


EGO-typical

by Tabbynerdicat



Series: EGO-typical [2]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: M/M, No Dan/Phil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 10:38:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 42,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16324655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabbynerdicat/pseuds/Tabbynerdicat
Summary: In a world where personalities come to life, how will Dan and Phil come to terms with the idea that their one-off, joke alter egos are fully alive and conscious, living in a parallel plane of existence called The Void? AblazingPhil- or Blaze as he prefers, is tired of wandering without a purpose. But ego/human possession is a delicate matter- and switching bodies with your original is definitely not how it's meant to turn out.But now, they're stuck like this. Will Blaze find a way to return home before he makes a fool of himself on tour? Will Phil survive the harsh and unforgiving Void long enough for his new friend Dark to sort things out?Or will an old acquaintance bent on revenge throw everyone's efforts out of line?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Cross posting this from my Wattpad account, feel free to read it on any platform :)
> 
> EDIT: UPDATED 29/12/18

**~Groundlands~**

"No!" Phil cried, clasping his hands over his mouth as the scene unfolded before him. He was on tour- he was meant to be asleep, but here he sat in bed, watching what was probably the biggest plot twist since Snape killed Dumbledore at the end of Half-Blood Prince. When he'd gotten invested in Steven Universe a few years ago, he'd hardly expected to be drawn into this massive storyline involving hierarchies, borderline slavery, and an unresolved murder mystery... but this is how it was ending? After five seasons worth of doubt and speculation?  _This_  theory was right?

Phil was unreasonably, unbelievably saddened.

"What've you done?" Dan called from the other room.

"Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond?!" Phil answered, still feeling the adrenaline rushing through his body. Was this why the internet had exploded yesterday? Phil had done his best to avoid the spoilers, but he caught some of them despite his efforts. He knew Steven was going to enter the subconscious of Pearl, but nothing could have predicted what would later happen in the episode. Phil had always thought that the Rose is Pink Diamond theory was a little far-fetched, but... well, he wasn't one to argue with canon.

"You mean you didn't know that?" Dan asked, walking in. He beheld the scene with a sigh- Phil was eating from a bag of marshmallows that had been spilled at the apparent spook, in a dark room with harsh pink light illuminating his face. He almost looked like he was glowing- but then, Phil was a pretty bright guy. Something about the hue of his skin just wanted to reflect light, effectively turning him into a beacon.

But he obsessed over Phil for too long anyway. He shrugged with a sigh, moving to sit beside Phil on the bed, taking in the screen's harsh light with a squint. What was this, full brightness? Dan had learned  _that_ lesson a long time ago...

"You just spoiled the episode, you twat," Dan stated, rolling his eyes. He had, of course, already seen the spoilers on Instagram today- but Phil needed to learn not to give away details like this. What if it was a show they usually watched together? What would Dan do if Phil kept making little comments during an episode he'd already seen, teasing events until they became more predictable than usual?

It was matters like these where Dan simply had to draw the line. Unfortunately, Phil didn't seem to notice or care that Dan had spoken to him, and he was rewinding the video to the start. Being away on tour, they didn't have any way to view the new episodes aside from YouTube. Really, the people that pirated videos to put on the internet were life savers, even if the practice was morally wrong.

Dan cleared his throat, but Phil didn't respond.

_Oh. The silent treatment, huh?_

Dan just sighed to himself and took a marshmallow, seeing as Phil seemed too disconnected from reality to stop him. Something must have been off with him- maybe he'd finally figured out that eating two packets of marshmallows in one sitting was bad for him. Or, more likely, he was just resting in between so that he didn't throw up and give Dan justification for his worry.

_One day, Philly. One day you'll find yourself really sick and I'll just laugh at you._

"Want one?" Dan offered the marshmallows to Phil, though the older man didn't seem at all there. He lowered his hand.

"Hey, Phil?" Dan questioned again, nudging Phil's shoulder. Thankfully, Phil responded this time- Dan was starting to get worried about him. He never passed up the opportunity to take food from Dan, after all.

"Shh, I'm watching," Phil said, gesturing to the screen. Dan supposed he may as well give in and do the same- Phil would probably want to talk about the deep lore again. You wouldn't think Phil would be the type to get into the nitty gritty of the story behind cartoons, but he was honestly even worse than Dan.

_"Hey, Pearl inside of Pearl's pearl,"_

"Pearlception," Dan commented. Phil drew himself even closer into his sheets, seeming almost on edge. Dan was about to ask what was wrong with him, but decided not to. It wasn't the first time Phil had gotten emotional over a cartoon, and considering his initial reaction, this twist was evidently going to be hard to shake.

"Aww, she really loved her," Dan said, observing the crying Pearl on the screen. Phil said nothing.

 _Nothing_.

_"Just like I lost my... what was it you said? My CELLPHONE!"_

"Relatable," Dan said, hoping that Phil would react in some way to his jokes. Something felt a little off, which was very strange. Phil had been his usual, happy-go-lucky self just hours ago. He found himself not paying attention to the show, watching Phil curiously. The older man didn't even acknowledge him.

Then, Phil snapped out of it. He pointed excitedly at the screen, where Dan could see the image of Rose Quartz apparently shattering Pink Diamond. Dan, of course, knew what would happen, but something didn't seem quite right. Phil's hand was shaking- had he had any caffeine today? Was it the sugar high?

Or was it  _something else?_

"Phil, are you alright?"

"Fine," he said, still watching the screen almost religiously. The red light was heavy coming from the laptop, and Phil looked almost inhuman in the crude colour- the glowing was back, and when Dan was this close, something told him there was no way this was simply reflecting the laptop's display. Phil's eyes seemed... orange. There was no orange on the screen...

It was Pearl. Pearl had shapeshifted into Rose Quartz- this much had been speculated for years. Dan didn't know why Phil had been so surprised, but Phil clearly wasn't himself tonight- he guessed that at a pinch, Phil could've been upset that his working theory was now wrong, but... Phil didn't hold onto things like this. Dan decided, finally, to speak up about his worries. If Phil was going to have some kind of shock or funny turn, he wouldn't forgive himself for not picking up on it beforehand.

"You know, it can be tough getting back into our tour sleep pattern, but-"

"Dan, shut up!"

Dan blinked in surprise. The words weren't all that surprising, really- Phil told him to shut up all the time. But he sounded so angry, so hostile... No, something was  _definitely_ wrong.

"I'm trying to watch this," Phil said, seemingly back to normal again. Dan said nothing.

_"I can't exactly shatter myself,"_

"Do you ever wonder what you would do if you could shapeshift?" Dan asked, watching as what had once been Rose Quartz turned into the figure of Pink Diamond, her design so much different from the episode 'Jungle Moon' where she'd debuted.

Phil's fists clenched, but his face didn't change. "Not really. I might make an alter ego and fight crime in London,"

"We already have alter egos, Phil," Dan recalled. "Remember?"

Phil coughed softly as if he had a tickle in his throat, his hands shaking again. "Y-yeah, for that video with Mark. What did we c-call ourselves, again?"

Dan shrugged, silently wondering if he should take Phil to the doctor instead of heading straight to rehearsal tomorrow.

"Daniel and AblazingPhil, wasn't it?"

Suddenly, something inside Phil changed. His eyes snapped shut and his trembles grew stronger. Dan tried to pull him out of it, to shake him from the strange fit, but Phil's skin was hot. Unbearably hot, almost too hot to touch.

His eyes opened, sclera red and iris a piercing yellow. He grinned with white teeth that contrasted his reddening skin, while Dan looked on in horror. This... this was a joke, right? A hallucination? A... fuck, a nightmare? This wasn't Phil. This was something otherworldly, something entirely new...

"They call me Blaze," the manifestation corrected. Dan could feel his heart pounding, his eyes searing, his head growing light as he crumpled unconscious on Phil's bed, the echo of the episode's end lingering until he could hear no more.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Groundlands~**

"Fuck," Blaze muttered as he watched Dan crumple, the way the human's eyes rolled back in his head being more than a little unsettling. "Am I that ugly? What am I even watching this for?"

Blaze closed the laptop and poked the human's face, noting how cold it felt. Though he wasn't nearly as cold as Daniel was- but Daniel was a demon, that was different. How cold were humans meant to get, anyway?

"Are you dead? Ugh, where am I... this doesn't look like home,"

Blaze observed his strange form, scowling at the fluffy pajamas that his original had worn. What interest did Phil have in these clothes? They were  _much_ too warm. Blaze stripped his top off, the rising heat subsiding as he let out a long, relaxed sigh.  _Better_.

Blaze then turned and raised his eyebrows at the unconscious human, who greatly resembled his friend Daniel. He supposed this must be the Dan he always talked about- the one who used to repress Daniel, and take pills to shut him out. Daniel had never really been upset about it- Blaze supposed that after millennia serving as the bearer of melancholy thoughts, it could get pretty tiring. Well, Blaze certainly didn't have the attention span to keep that up, anyway.

From the moment he'd come into existence in the void, Daniel had been there for him, and when Blaze hadn't known anything except what his name was and how much he hated heat, Daniel had been there to explain everything to him. Except, even Daniel didn't know his true purpose- it was all a matter of guesswork, really. First he'd been curious if Blaze was a fire demon of some kind- but that train of thought ended fairly quickly. But still... Blaze just didn't seem to act like any of his fellow egos. Not like Pamic, or Grizzly, or Anti or even PJ. The idea of him being like them, being based on a person who existed in the realm Daniel had influence over... it felt more than a little upsetting that he couldn't remember any of it. Even  _they_ had some memories of their initial appearance as an ego.

At first, Blaze wasn't so worried. He enjoyed having fun with Daniel and the other egos, blissfully unaware of the role they all played. He could remember the night that Daniel revealed to him that they could leave the void and inhabit their hosts. The night that changed him forever... how could he sit idle when the question burning inside him had a chance to be answered? Why would he sit around and remain clueless when he could hear his purpose right from the source?

_"Where have you been?" Blaze asked, eyes adjusting to the darkness that followed Daniel everywhere he went. "I haven't seen you since yesterday."_

_**"I was out,"** Daniel said, as if that explained anything. Blaze was confused._

_"I thought we all lived in an endless void."_

_Daniel sighed heavily. The area grew darker around them as the demon sat beside him. Blaze's bright glow was almost drowned out, yet still cast dancing colour onto the pale cheeks of the demon. From what he'd been able to see, he was one of the only ones strong enough to illuminate a demon's face. In fact, until the time they'd stood in front of a mirror together, Daniel had no way of seeing how he really looked._

_**"That's right, I haven't told you... This world, this... manifestation. It's not all there is. Each of us is here for a reason, Blaze, each of us was created by someone in the alternate reality we call the Groundlands. That person... they're our entire purpose. I'm still surprised you didn't know this as soon as you arrived."** _

_Blaze was confused. "Other reality? Groundlands?"_

_Daniel smiled sadly. " **You really don't know, do you? He probably doesn't even remember you- He created you to be a dark ego, the opposite of him. But you're pretty similar, all things considering."**_

_"You know him?" Blaze asked. "Daniel, why didn't you tell me?"_

_**"I... I honestly thought you knew,"**  Daniel mumbled.  **"Is it alright if I shower before we talk? I... I had to take care of some business and I'm a bit... messy..."**_

When Daniel had walked out, Blaze had noticed small smears of blood on his fingers. When he returned, however, they were gone. He'd never asked how they'd got there- assuming it had been some sort of demon business, but they'd spent the rest of the night talking about Dan and Phil, their originals who lived in the Groundlands...

Blaze had pressured Daniel every day, trying to learn more about his tie to this other realm. Because he couldn't stand being so different, so bored, while everyone else flickered in and out of the void as easy as breathing. Some of them faded briefly- sort of like a temporary death, while most of them were merely out possessing their originals- but either way, Blaze had nowhere to go. Some days, he felt so alone. Why did everyone else have a purpose? Why didn't Blaze remember who he was supposed to be?

Blaze had decided to take his life into his own hands. He didn't know how to manifest as part of his original, but he decided to try anyway. Some part of him, some obscure impulse wanted nothing but to impress Daniel, and in his head Blaze couldn't do that without possessing Phil.

But from what he'd seen, Phil kinda sucked.

"Hey, Dannyboy, wakey wakey," Blaze growled impatiently, flames dancing threateningly across his fingers. To his relief, the man started to come to. He looked up and met Blaze's eyes, blinking a few times in what looked like disbelief.

"Shit, Phil, Halloween isn't until October, remember? How long was I out?"

Blaze cocked his head to one side in response. "You idiot, I literally just told you my name was Blaze. Daniel was telling the truth, you really don't know your left from your right..."

"Look, Phil, I don't know what you're trying to do, but- Jesus, is it morning? Why didn't you sleep, you moron?"

Blaze sighed, losing patience. He gripped the human's body and shoved him against the wall, eyes flickering dangerously. He was a little surprised at his own strength- the only company he kept these days was Daniel, and Daniel was much stronger than he was. He almost understood now why Daniel got a kick out of throwing things around- this measure of power... it certainly felt amazing.

"Get it through your thick skull. I am not Phil. I am Blaze, and I'm here to..."

 _Shit._ Blaze hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Ow, stop, Phil, you're burning me!" Dan hissed, shoving the ego away. "What the fuck, okay? You've been acting weird since you started watching that stupid episode-"

"If you call me Phil one more time I'll-"

_BEEEP! BEEEP!_

Both sets of eyes flew immediately to the alarm beside the bed. Dan unplugged it angrily and stormed out of the room.

"No sleep... miss our sound check... But no! I've got to be the adult in this house!"

Sound check?

Blaze shook his head. Okay, maybe travelling to the Groundlands wasn't such a good idea- maybe meeting Dan could have gone a lot better, and maybe he needed to get back and talk to Daniel about it. Just maybe.

Blaze reached out his hand and concentrated, just like he had earlier. He wanted to get back. He visualised emptiness, darkness stretching far as the eye could see. He pictured Daniel waiting for him, ready to mock him when he learned of Blaze's adventure.

He opened his eyes. He was still here.

Panic began to rise in his stomach.

_Shit... I can't get back... I don't know how. Daniel, help..._

Dan walked back in, throwing a red jacket at Blaze, who looked down at it with a small amount of disdain.

"Well go on Lester," Dan said, pulling on his own shirt. "Thanks to you, we're performing on empty stomachs and no sleep- will you take those goddamn contacts out already? You're giving me the creeps."

Oh, Blaze was so royally  _screwed_.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~** **Void** **~**

Phil had no clue what had just happened. He'd been feeling off all day, sure, but he'd thought he had some kind of stomach bug. He didn't expect to black out and fall limp- he hoped he hadn't fallen and hit his head. The fans would be so disappointed if the tour dates were cancelled. Oh, and that would hurt, obviously.

He'd just awoken but he couldn't see. He reached up and touched his hands to his face, ensuring that his eyes were actually open. He must just be in a really, really dark place.

The air was quite thin around him, and his head was dizzy. He'd held his breath as long as he could, but eventually he had to try to breathe. Disturbingly, the stray particles were sucked away from Phil before he knew it.

_There was no air?!_

It hurt. The lack of breathable air clawed at Phil's insides and his lungs began to ache, his eyes widening. Was this how he was going to die? He had so much left to live for! Dan, and the fans, and YouTube...

Suddenly, just as he was about to faint, Phil felt a coolness in the air. He found himself relaxing, breathing soundly as if oxygen had been returned to the air around him. It was still dark, but Phil felt a lot better knowing he wasn't going to die. Well, immediately...

 _Where even am I?_  He wondered.  _A closet? A basement? Where's Dan?_

 **"Blaze, you almost burned yourself out again,"**  a familiar voice muttered. Phil's head whipped around to face the voice, seeing nothing but emptiness. He could have sworn it was Dan- but who the hell was Blaze?

"Dan, is that you?"

**"Of course it's me, you idiot. Turn your light back on before you trip over me again."**

_What does he mean, turn on my light?_

"I... Dan, why are you acting weird?" Phil sighed, attempting to stand. His hands brushed fabric, but Phil still couldn't see. It felt like denim, but...

"Dan, turn on the lights, this isn't funny." Phil groaned.

Suddenly, Phil could see. Two pinpricks of white light, shining at eye level.  _Are those... eyes?_

 **" _Phil?_ "** Dan blanched. But how could it be Dan, when the figure before him seemed so dark and cold... Not even his Dan would act this way.

**"What the hell are you doing here? Where's Blaze?"**

Phil's head was spinning, he was running low on air again. "I have no idea what you're talking about, am I... am I dreaming?"

**"Fuck, you're human... breathe, Phil, breathe."**

Phil's raspy breaths evened out again, and he stared at the figure before him in disbelief. "You're not trying to kill me? Whatever you are? Who are you, anyway? Why do you sound like Dan?"

The figure chuckled grimly, his apparent shock seeming to have subsided.  **"I gave up on killing a long time ago, Phil."**

Phil could feel a hand on his arm, and yanked it back in fear. The cold, calculating eyes of the demon met his own.

"How do you know me?"

Pitch black. The demon's eyes must be closed. They soon opened again, staring into Phil's own intently. Phil almost felt like he'd been in this situation before...

_Dan had been crying in his room for twenty minutes now. Phil was worried, even though the other boy had told him countless times he was fine. Dan's eyes had been puffy and his skin had been pale. They'd only been living together for a few months, and Phil knew that Dan still didn't trust him with some things, but it wasn't hard to spot. Dan had depression. And Phil really just wanted to help him through it._

_To break his trust by checking on him, or to leave him be and risk something happening? Was Phil overreacting? He must be, he'd check weekly to see if Dan sported any signs of self harm and he'd been clean for months. Phil was so proud of him, but Dan still saw himself as a failure._

_Phil put down the tea that had grown cold in his hands, and walked delicately over to the door. "Dan?" He called._

_The crying abruptly stopped._

_"Y-yeah, Phil?"_

_Phil pretended not to notice the stutter, but gulped down his worries. "Do you... do you want to watch Black Butler with me?"_

_The best way to deal with Dan's episodes weren't to force him to answer you, Phil had learned. Dan would be okay if he could lose himself in a moment, any moment. It might not be productive, but it lessened Phil's worry. He tried not to let his relief show when Dan opened the door, holding a box of cookies._

_"Sorry... I had these in here for some reason, we can have them while we watch, yeah?"_

_Phil's heart untwisted and he breathed out, happy that Dan was okay. "Yeah," He replied._

It shifted.

_It was months after that night that Phil began to hear Dan talking to himself. While he was watching a cartoon, or editing a video. When he was in another room, or even when he was meant to be asleep. Some of the things Phil heard were awful, frightening. He'd make sure to linger a little longer whenever they hugged, tried to spend more time with Dan, hoping it would pass. But it didn't._

_One day, Dan turned to Phil. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and his lip was bruised from being gnawed at for so long. Phil had noticed how he looked, but feared saying anything. For most of the year, Dan had been rather snappy, but ever since YouTube leaked the Valentine's Day video Phil had uploaded to his second channel, he'd noticed that Dan had been withdrawn._

_"Phil?"_

_Dan probably didn't realise, but this was the first conversation he'd started with Phil in weeks._

_"Yeah Dan?"_

_Dan licked his lips nervously, looking everywhere but at Phil's eyes. Phil tried his best not to feel hurt._

_"You... you don't like me, do you? Like,_ like _me?"_

_"No."_

_"Oh... okay..."_

_And Dan didn't say another word. Phil didn't- of course not, but he questioned whether or not that was what Dan had wanted to hear. If Phil could go back and say something else, anything else, or even just to phrase it more delicately, he would have gone in an instant. He was concerned for Dan, concerned about his well-being. What if Dan wanted Phil to say yes?_

_Phil couldn't take it. He burst into Dan's room, seconds after he'd left the lounge. The boy had just settled into the folds of his bed, looking up at Phil with confusion._

_"Um... Hi?" Dan spoke, his voice tinged with hurt._ Fuck.

_"Dan, I... I didn't want to do this, but we need to talk."_

_Dan blinked wearily. The reaction was less flamboyant than Phil had thought it would be, but Dan sighed and moved his laptop aside, running his fingers through his hair. Phil took this as an invitation to sit beside him, wondering whether or not he wanted a hug._

_"Well, Phil? What do you want to talk about?"_

_Phil swallowed. "I've been hearing you talking in your sleep, I was wondering if you were alright."_

_Dan inhaled sharply. "Y-you heard all that? Did I keep you awake? Shit, I'm so sorry-"_

_"Please tell me what's going on," Phil pleaded, eyes shining with tears that could come at any moment. "I'm worried, okay? I thought I could make it go away with chocolate and anime but I just make it worse, I just want to know you're safe, okay?"_

_Dan sighed. "You didn't make it worse, Phil, it was all me."_

_"But then why did you get so upset just now? What did I say?"_

_"Nothing, Phil, it's nothing."_

_"Nothing wouldn't make you tired and grumpy all the time," Phil said. "Dan, I know something isn't right. Nobody deserves to feel the way you've been feeling. Please, help me understand. I want to help you."_

_"Fucking dammit, I think I like you but I don't know, okay?"_

_There was a second of silence, and Dan's nails pressed nervously against his arms._

_Phil had to recover quickly from his shock. He swallowed down his multitude of questions to ask one, trying not to disturb the already troubled boy._

_"But... why? I'm not the best," Phil said. "I... I never put myself out there. I let you feel this way for months because I didn't know how to bring it up, you shouldn't have feelings for me."_

_Dan looked into Phil's eyes, some of his worry seeming to fade away. "You mean... you don't mind that I'm bi?"_

_Phil pulled the boy close to him. "I wouldn't judge anyone for who they like... unless it's a murderer, then I'd be skeptical."_

_Dan laughed sadly against Phil's chest, tears soaking into the fabric._

_"What do you mean, you don't know?" Phil asked._

_Dan seemed at a loss for words. "I... well, it's complicated. I keep hearing voices, you're right. Or, one voice. He sounds like me, but... better. He tells me things I hate about myself, and I know they're all true. That... that probably sounds crazy..."_

_Phil only held Dan closer, trying to help him be more comfortable. Dan took a shaky breath, and continued._

_"B-but anyway, he keeps whispering into my ear. Whenever you're around, and he tells me I'm whipped. He tells me I'm doubting myself because I've got a crush on you, and he also tells me that you like me too. He tells me to make a move, but... I can't, I won't. It's not me, but... if it's in my head, who else could it be? He's right about everything else, why wouldn't he be right about this? I just... I don't know how to feel, and- and I-"_

_Phil locked eyes with Dan, wondering if he was about to make the right choice here. He cupped Dan's tear stained cheek with his palm, and brought him closer._

_"Dan, kiss me."_

_Dan looked torn between horror and eagerness. It was a curious look, and Phil tried not to let the sinking feeling in his stomach deter him. He was Dan's best friend, dammit, and if this would help in any way, Phil would do it in a heartbeat._

_"But I-"_

_"Dan, if you want to know if you really like me, just do it. I promise, things don't need to change. If you want, we can forget all about it. Well, most of it. I'm still going to help you with your depression, you're stuck with me."_

_Dan's worried look broke into a small, defeated smile. "Of course I am. Look, I know you're trying to help, but I-"_

_Phil pouted. "Dan, if you leave it like this then_ I'll  _be the one that feels awkward."_

_Dan chuckled lightly. "I... okay, don't judge me..."_

_Phil sighed in relief. "I won't."_

_And so Dan leaned in and pecked him on the lips, pulling away after a moment. It wasn't special to Phil at all, but for Dan's sake, he hoped it had meant something. By the look of relief on Dan's face, it certainly had._

_"Holy fuck, I can't believe that happened. I... It wasn't what I expected... It... I think I'm just deluding myself," Dan sighed happily. "I think I'm overreacting. Yeah. No offense, Phil, but I don't think I like you that way."_

_Phil laughed, arms still around the confused and slightly unstable boy. "I've never been so happy to be rejected."_

_Dan snorted, getting up. "Come on, I should book in to see a doctor... thank you, Phil."_

_Phil felt his heart swell with happiness as he followed Dan back out into the lounge. "You're very welcome, Dan."_

Phil's eyes widened once more. "It was  _you_? You were the one in Dan's head? Wait... where am I, then?"

The demon shook his head, eyes flickering in and out of view in the darkness.  **"You're in the empty, black void where all broken and destitute souls live out their eternal lives in never ending agony."**

Phil blinked. "I- what?"

 **"I'm joking, I'm joking,"**  The demon said, and Phil could have sworn he was smiling.  **"This is where the egos and I hang out in our spare time."**

"...Egos?" Phil asked, feeling coolness wash over him again.

The demon shrugged.  **"Well, not all of us are egos, technically. I'm a demon, but I gave up on tormenting my host a long time ago."**

"Dan," Phil guessed.

**"Right. Blaze and most of the others are egos- personas created by people with enough passion that they became real. Oh, sorry... I haven't introduced myself. I don't really have a proper name, but your friend called me Daniel. I'm the embodiment of everything he used to hate."**

Phil peered cautiously into the darkness once more. "Did you have anything to do with the rebranding?"

Daniel chuckled.  **"He finally decided to embrace me, so he and I could finally live in peace. Coming out about his sexuality, his depression, that was us working together. I don't visit much anymore, I usually spend my time with Blaze nowadays."**

"Blaze... Blaze... oh, crap,"

Phil realised who it was that Daniel had been talking about. "Blaze as in AblazingPhil? My dark ego?"

Daniel nodded.  **"The very same. I can only imagine he's controlling your body, but Dan never came here while I shared his body. I... It's my fault, I'll say. He doesn't know how to simultaneously possess a body, he must have kicked you out of it. That's how you ended up here."**

"Wait..." a sinking feeling was growing in Phil's stomach. This was a lot to process at once, but something a lot more worrying was on his mind. "Blaze... in my body... shit, the tour."

Daniel seemed confused.  **"Tour?"**

"Dan and I are on tour at the moment, I'll bet Blaze doesn't know any of my lines- what are we going to do?"

Daniel stared at him.  **"Phil... you're literally existing in a place that should be impossible for you, and you're worried about some dumb tour?"**

Phil made a sound of indignation. "I practiced for a whole week to get those lines right, and now Blaze has gone and ruined it? Why?"

Daniel's eyes were cold and lifeless as they met his own.  **"Well, it might have to do with something bigger than yourself, Lester."**

It was scary how much he sounded like Dan. Phil could almost imagine his housemate speaking those words to him, chilling him to the bone. The air around him turned stale.

"Right, right, sorry..."

Daniel sat down, and Phil followed the lights in his eyes. Their knees brushed together, and Phil couldn't tell if Daniel was blushing or not, but the air around them seemed to grow warmer. Interesting...

 **"We're just going to have to wait until he figures it out,"**  Daniel sighed.  **"It's been ages since we've been apart. Hopefully you'll make a decent enough substitute."**

Phil swallowed. He still didn't really know what was going on, but he knew that things at play were way out of his control. He sat in silence, silently pleading for his alter ego to put him back where he belonged. The minutes passed slowly, and the hours even slower.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Groundlands~**

Dan rested his hand over his face, trying to comprehend what the person beside him was saying.

"So you're telling me," he started, "that you're not Phil. You're the dark ego he created for that collaboration last June?"

"Yeah," Blaze muttered. He was looking down, sheepish, twiddling his thumbs just like Phil did when he was on the spot. But he was also so remarkably different to the Phil Dan knew and loved.

"That's completely ridiculous. I believe you." Dan grimaced. Why couldn't he have one normal year?

"Wait, what?" Blaze asked.

Dan smirked despite his frustration. "Phil wouldn't be able to come up with such bullshit on his own. Look... I'm willing to accept that you exist. I'm willing to accept that anything people love enough will come to life, but how the heck did you manage to possess Phil's body?"

Blaze shrugged. "I don't know, I just kind of focused really hard, and it just... happened."

"Descriptive," Dan noted. Blaze punched him in the side, knocking the wind out of his chest.

"Oops." Blaze grinned. Dan shot him a one finger salute.

"Well if you can't unpossess him, you'll have to learn his lines."

"Wait, are you kidding me? You saw how much of a disaster I was on that stage, I can't go back out there!"

Dan laughed sarcastically- perhaps he had gone mad. It wouldn't surprise him- there were only so many moments he could share with Phil before it happened. "Well maybe you should have thought of that before you pulled this bullshit. Now I'd really like to go to bed, so hurry up and git gud. We've got three days before Edinburgh so you'd better study up."

Blaze mocked him under his breath, flipping the pages of the script Dan had handed to him. Why couldn't he be more like Daniel? Quiet, brooding, nonchalant... This guy was a sarcastic shit and Blaze much preferred his ego.

Flames flickered from his fingers and onto the page as Blaze scanned the small writing. Why were there so many things to memorise? Did Dan and Phil have nothing better to do with their lives?

"What do you even do for a living?" Blaze asked, trying to squander the spreading flames. The paper charred beneath his fingertips and he let the script fall to his lap, giving up. Dan looked up, annoyed. He'd just gotten into an appalling position on the bed- didn't he know that would ruin his posture?

"We make content for the internet to enjoy," he replied.

Blaze smirked. "Like porn?"

"Despite what everyone seems to think, no," Dan responded almost emotionlessly. "If you're just going to ask fangirl questions I'll ignore you, learn the script."

"The script is kinda dead, Danny," Blaze stated, letting the charred remains fall from his lap onto the hotel floor. "You seem to forget that I burn everything I touch. Weird, considering it's practically my only quality."

Dan looked over, groaning to himself. "How did I get stuck with you, Jesus, you're more annoying than Phil..."

"Thank you," Blaze said defiantly.

"And your eyes are still creepy,"

"And you still sound like a whiny bitch,"

"Touché," Dan sighed, fishing out his copy of the script. "Looks like I'll have to go over this thing with you. You know, it took me and Phil a whole week to learn this thing and I still fumble..."

"Phil and I," Blaze corrected.

Dan glared heavily at the ego. "I will fucking murder you."

"What, it's grammatically-"

"I'll show you grammar in your fucking ass you mother fuck..." Dan trailed off, flipping through the script. Blaze watched intently, noticing how lively Dan looked compared to Daniel. Though, Blaze supposed, Daniel wasn't really alive at all.

"You remind me of a friend," Blaze said. Dan looked up momentarily, raising an eyebrow. Blaze shrugged, "except that you're more of a pussy."

"Wow, thanks bitch." Dan muttered, though he didn't seem hurt at all. "Suppose I've got an ego up there too, don't I? Wonder if he also has crippling depression."

Blaze shrugged. "I'm pretty sure he  _is_  crippling depression."

"Mhm, that's nice," Dan answered. "Aha! Okay, we're going to go over this section first because it's the hardest to get right. Repeat after me... wait, what do you mean 'he is crippling depression'?"

Blaze smirked. "Wait, what do-"

"Why are you the way that you are?" Dan groaned in frustration.

"You asked me to repeat after you," Blaze snickered. Dan sighed heavily.

"What is my life... whatever, you need to learn this."

"Don't you want to know about Daniel?" Blaze asked.

Dan met his eyes. Blaze could see he was tired, wired, so devoid of energy and hope- it was funny. He seemed like a sadder version of Daniel, but otherwise, very similar indeed.

"I can't deal with this tonight. Maybe in the morning we'll wake up and everything will be back to normal."

Dan dropped the script and flopped backwards on the hotel bed, groaning loudly. Blaze snorted.

"Attractive."

"Yes, because I'm definitely trying to be attractive for you right now."

"You're just jealous you can't be hot like me all the time," Blaze smirked.

Dan buried his face in a pillow. "You know, for all of your differences, you and Phil have one thing in common. A shitty sense of humour."

"Ha Ha, fuck you too."

"In your dreams."

Blaze smirked to himself.  _If only you knew..._

**~Void~**

The hours were ticking by, and Phil was growing restless. He'd tried pacing, sleeping, none of it had helped. He could feel Daniel's cold eyes on his back the whole time, and the tension was slowly killing him. He was hungry, thirsty, and tired beyond belief but nothing he seemed to do would fix it. All he could do was sit here and breathe the oxygen that washed over him in waves.

 **"Do you need food?"**  Daniel asked. Phil looked at him incredulously.

"Do you have food?"

Daniel chuckled.  **"No, none of us here eat food. We don't have to- we aren't corporeal. But I can summon some if you'd like."**

"You can summon... you know what, I'll believe anything today." Phil said, massaging his temples as he sat beside the demon. "If you could get me some toast I'll be happy."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. Phil had gotten remarkably good at estimating Daniel's facial expressions based on his eye movements. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not, but it was certainly helpful considering it was the only part of the demon he could actually see.

**"Nothing fancier? I'm a demon, Phil, I can do a lot of... things."**

"Is it just me or did that have a sexual undertone to it?" Phil asked. Daniel chuckled.

**"I don't know, Phil, do you want it to? Okay but seriously, what do you want?"**

Phil laughed. "Okay, well if you're taking special requests... I'll have a roast dinner."

Daniel produced it... somehow. One second Phil was staring into the darkness, and the next he was holding a steaming plate of roast vegetables and beef, with Daniel sighing contently beside him. Phil looked at the plate, then at the abyss beside him.

"Okay, two questions. One- how the heck did you do that? And two- how come I can see this but I can't see you?"

**"Magic."**

Phil waited for another response, but nothing came. "...and?" He questioned.

 **"It's all magic, I wasn't lying. I'm a demon- I absorb light and happiness, it's my job."**  Daniel said nonchalantly.  **"I'm not holding your plate, so I don't have an effect on it."**

"I... suppose that makes sense," Phil said, taking a bite. "If you can just summon things, like, if you have that power, why can't you just send me back now?"

Daniel sighed.  **"It's not that simple. I've only got control over Dan's mind, I can't touch anyone else. You're human, so you don't possess the ability to enter a mind if you aren't already inside it. We're going to have to wait until Blaze sorts himself out. As for how I can summon food- we're literally in a void right now. Everything we need is floating around, and egos like me can use them to make things such as food and houses."**

"I don't see any houses," Phil said, peering into the distance. Daniel snorted.

**"We may be your alter egos, but Blaze and I still don't like company. You won't find a house for a while in any direction- we made our place as far away as possible."**

"But..." Phil started, looking around. "...Where's your place then?"

Daniel shrugged once more.  **"It's tied to Blaze- he's the one who made it. I guess without him here, it just disappeared. He can make everything again when he comes back, but still... kinda miss the place. You should eat your dinner before it gets cold."**

Phil grumbled something unintelligible under his breath as he continued eating the surprisingly good food. It still escaped him how the demon was able to pull this meal out of thin air.

"Why don't you possess Dan and teach him how to get back?" Phil asked, handing back the now empty plate. It vanished into the darkness surrounding Daniel, disappearing without a trace.

 **"I can't leave you here alone,"**  Daniel mused.

Phil was puzzled. "Why not?"

Daniel shrugged.  **"I mean, sure, plenty of alter egos are nice, but there are several that aren't. We haven't come across any yet, thankfully, but you never know who might stop by. Some are trigger happy, some have a tendency to feel stabby. It's not usually a problem- again, we aren't corporeal. But you're different. If they kill you, you likely won't come back."**

Phil bit his lip. "What if I hide?"

Daniel raised his brow again.  **"Did you ever question how you're able to breathe here?"**

"Um... I couldn't, at first." Phil admitted. "Why?"

 **"We don't need air, Phil."**  Daniel said, as if it was obvious.  **"We're-"**

"Not corporeal, I know," Phil finished with a sigh.

Daniel humphed.  **"Blaze uses oxygen to keep his flames burning, he gets awfully upset if they go out. He summons it, and I've been summoning it this whole time. If I was to possess Dan, I wouldn't be able to do that for you. Either way, you'd end up dead, and it would all be for naught, wouldn't it?"**

Phil groaned and leaned backwards. "So I'm stuck here?"

**"Unfortunately for you, perhaps. But I'm quite intrigued. I have some questions I was never able to persuade Dan to ask you, and now I have you here at my disposal..."**

Phil laughed nervously. "That is literally the creepiest thing anyone could say to anyone,"

 **"Trust me,"**  Daniel said,  **"I could be creepier..."**

And looking into those cold white eyes, Phil didn't doubt it one bit.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Groundlands~**

"Fuck!"

Blaze glanced up from the digital copy of the script that Dan had given him the night before. The fire that burned on each part of his body had ended up overheating the kindle five times already, and he eventually had to open a window to let in more air. He sat in the kitchenette, shirt discarded and hanging over a chair beside him. It was much too hot in here.

"Morning." Blaze commented as Dan stumbled into the room. The man glanced at him, noting his lack of clothes.

"How are you up so early?" Dan asked, turning on the kettle. Blaze felt a little disappointed that Dan wasn't immediately captivated by his hot body. But, he'd manage.

The ego shrugged. "I didn't sleep. And you might want to tend to that."

Dan looked down, noticing his toe was bleeding. Blaze supposed he must have stubbed it getting out of bed.

"Yeah, sure, do me a favour and pass me the milk?"

Blaze raised a brow, but reached into the fridge anyway. He shivered at the cool air, eerily reminding himself of spending time with Daniel back in the void. He found the cool beverage and quickly handed it to Dan, who looked puzzled.

"This has been in the fridge since yesterday- why is it room temperature?"

Blaze shrugged. "I mean, it might have boiled if I held it any longer."

Dan sighed heavily. "Right, right, I forgot. Well, I hope you've memorised a decent part of that script, given you were up all night."

Blaze rolled his eyes as Dan poured both he and the ego a drink. He tried to avert his eyes, but he was incredibly curious about what exactly this was. He knew what food and drinks were, obviously, but he'd never had to consume them.

Dan brought over a steaming mug of the liquid, setting it down as he looked at the kindle. Blaze could feel his presence, though not as strongly as he'd been able to feel Daniel's. He found himself somewhat leaning into the touch, before Dan recoiled.

"Oi, watch it mate, you constantly feel like you're running a fever. Hmm... decent headway, but you've got a long way to go."

Blaze put down the kindle and sniffed the liquid. It certainly smelled appealing. "What's this?"

Dan looked at him curiously. "What, you've never had tea before? What kind of Brit are you?"

Blaze mocked him childishly, deciding to take a sip. The second the drink touched his lips, he pushed it away.

" _Shit_ , fuck that's hot," Blaze growled, wiping his mouth. Dan snorted.

"Another thing you and Phil seem to have in common is that you both hate hot tea, huh? Guess you're pretty similar after all."

Blaze scowled. "I can't even taste the flavour, what is it supposed to be?"

Dan patted his shoulder a few times. "Caffeine, my friend. Lots and lots of caffeine."

"I'll pretend I know what that is." Blaze said, picking up the kindle again. "This thing keeps overheating and losing battery, I think it's broken."

Dan observed it. He could hear its internal fan trying desperately to cool it down. He took the device from Blaze and sat it on the table.

"Technology doesn't respond well to heat. You might want to prop it up against something... aha, use this."

Dan brought over a small stack of books and rested the kindle against them. Blaze looked at the titles curiously.

"What's the Holy Bible? Jamie Oliver's Five Tips... Women's Weekly, The Amazing Book is not on Fire?"

"Only one of those is ours." Dan defended, busying himself by the toaster. "The rest were already here. Maybe you can read one after you finish memorising the script."

Blaze rolled his eyes once more. He had a very short attention span, Dan should know this. His spontaneous demeanor had been something Daniel had loved back home. The demon often told him that Blaze brought a kind of fire to his life that hadn't been there before.

Blaze picked the top book off the pile, placing the kindle aside. It looked like a picture of Phil and Dan was on the cover, colourful letters covering the rest of the space. Huh. Blaze had no idea they were in a book.

"Did you and Phil write this?" Blaze asked, flicking through the pages. The flames began to spread through slowly, filling the air with a crisp, pungent odour.

Dan turned around quickly taking the book from the ego. He launched the flaming text into the kitchen sink and doused it with water, breathing heavily.

"Ph- ugh- Blaze, you're going to set the fire alarm off, Jesus..."

"Guess the amazing book was on fire after all," Blaze snickered. Dan's mouth twitched despite himself, but he didn't laugh.

"This is serious. I know you don't think much of being here, but you couldn't have come at a worse possible time. Literally, if you'd come here two months ago everything would have been fine. I'd be perfectly happy to spend time with you, but right now, we have other commitments. And if you can't figure out how to send yourself back, you're going to have to pretend to be Phil. No more burning things. No more jokes. And please,  _please_  make your eyes look normal."

Blaze huffed, internally worrying. He'd never tried to change part of himself. He'd never really even seen himself, except briefly in the reflection of the kindle last night. There hadn't been any need, previously.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

"Oh, fuck!" Dan exclaimed, pushing a button on the toaster. Two round, charred objects flew out, but Dan grabbed a hand towel and began to fan the circular device in the ceiling. It flashed dangerously, and Blaze merely stared at it in distaste.

"That thing's very loud."

"Yes, Blaze, I know." Dan grumbled, gritting his teeth. The piercing noise subsided.

Blaze looked curiously at the lumps that now sat on the bench. He picked one up. It must have been very hot a few seconds ago, but now it seemed stone cold.

"You eat these things?" he asked. Dan, who was breathing heavily, looked over.

"Not when they're like this, no. They're called crumpets."

Blaze put it in his mouth, chomping down hard. It was crunchy and barely warm, tasting of ash and something else Blaze couldn't really describe. He took another bite, then another. Before he knew it, it was gone.

"That was good," Blaze said. Dan stared at him incredulously.

"You don't like hot tea, but you'll eat a crumpet that's burned to a crisp. You, sir, are a strange being."

Blaze smirked again. "Thank you."

**~Void~**

"So, like, is there anything else to see here, or...?" Phil asked, glancing over at Daniel. The appearance of two white orbs signified that Daniel was indeed looking at him.

**"I mean, I don't see why you wouldn't want to just stare for eternity into the darkness and contemplate your pathetic human existence."**

Phil snorted. "You're just like Dan."

Daniel chuckled.  **"Yes, I know."**

"But like, you said there were other houses? Can we go visit anyone? Is there, like, a PJ here? Louise?"

Daniel hummed softly under his breath and looked up again.  **"If I imagine a starry sky for you, will you stay here?"**

Suddenly, the sky above them seemed to light up. Little pricks of light, shining down and barely illuminating the ground. Come to think of it, the ground seemed to be black as well. Textureless. Phil couldn't describe how it felt, either.

**"Some soft grass? Moonlight? Anything you want..."**

Phil glanced at Daniel, only to find that despite the new light, he was still encompassed in darkness. The demon stared back, and somehow in those deep dark eyes Phil could see worry.

"You're avoiding the question, I'm not an idiot," Phil said, inching a little closer. He couldn't really tell where Daniel's body was, after all. They could be two bros chilling in a black void five feet apart or one foot apart, he couldn't tell the difference. Those piercing eyes bored into Phil as he waited for a response.

**"Louise doesn't have an ego. PJ's ego acts like a douche. Pretty much the only other one I talk to is Pamic, but-"**

"Well, why don't we go for a walk?" Phil suggested. "Beats sitting around here all day... night?"

Daniel smirked.  **"Time is different here. Basically nonexistant, but now that you're around, that might change. And if it does, you can bet the others will know about it. We've never had a human here... well, I mean, apart from Wilford, but-"**

"Who?" Phil asked.

Daniel sighed.  **"Wilford Warfstache- I mean, that's what he goes by. He lives with Dark and some of Mark's other egos in a manor not too far away. But he's bad news."**

"Why is he bad news?" Phil asked curiously. "He's human too, right?"

Daniel seemed to grimace.  **"Just barely. He's rather sensitive about it, so we don't bring it up. If you'd like to live, you'd do well not to mention it."**

"Ah," Phil said. "Is he one of the stabby ones?"

Daniel shrugged.  **"Sometimes, if he's feeling it. Most of the time he just shoots you."**

"...Why?" Phil asked, slowly getting to his feet.

**"It's quicker,"**

Phil began to walk anyway. He didn't know how much more of this bleak landscape he could take. The stars and the moon were nice, but Phil really just missed the real world. And if this Wilford had any answers at all, Phil wanted to hear them.

Daniel followed, locking eyes with Phil once more.  **"Don't pry, please. It's taken years to get him sane enough to function normally, and Dark would kill you if you made him mad again."**

"I'm surprised you're not trying to stop me," Phil commented. Daniel gripped his arm coolly, directing him slightly east as they walked.

**"I know you, Phil. You're stubborn. It's your best quality and your worst. You're going to need someone else there to speak for you, and I know them. Plus, oxygen."**

"Yes," Phil shuddered, feeling the cold creeping from the demon into his body. "Oxygen is good."


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Groundlands~**

"From the top," Dan commanded. Blaze shot him a glare, folding his arms.

"You're not my superior, asshat."

Dan looked at the ego challengingly. "They say knowledge is power, so I guess until you've got this down pat I'm the one in charge."

"Kinky."

"What did I say?"

Blaze stuck his tongue out, looking at the projected screen. After several attempts to get Blaze to learn the script on his own, Dan had finally realised that the ego couldn't touch anything or it would be destroyed. He'd gone out and bought a projector specifically for this, so Phil was going to pay him back when he returned from wherever he was. Dan didn't really understand the whole ordeal and some waning part of him held the hope it was all a bizarre dream, but he was rolling with it as best he could.

"My name is Phil Lester, thankfully not Moe  
It's finally time to make my diss track, yo  
You thought I was too innocent to roast myself  
Well watch out bitch, this might be bad for your health..."

Blaze sighed, breaking character. His eyes felt sore and his body felt warm, and the stupid jacket that Dan insisted he wear was suffocating him.

"Why did you decide to do this?"

"Because it's what the internet wanted." Dan explained with a shrug.

"Uh huh," Blaze said. "What if I don't want it?"

"Well Phil wanted it, and you're in his body, so you have to deal with it. Top." Dan said, gesturing backwards. Blaze smirked.

"Keen observation."

"Shut up," Dan muttered, trying to hide his blush. It was partly due to the rising temperature of the room, and partly because the ego before him wouldn't stop making everything sexual. Usually, Dan was the one to make it weird. Oh, how the tables had turned...

Despite his efforts, the ego seemed to notice anyway, sending him an inappropriate wink.

A loud buzz drew Dan's attention and he picked up his phone as Blaze began to sing the diss track again. He grimaced involuntarily.

**Louise: Had a blast with you two the other day**   
**Louise: I'm in town for a few hours with Pearl and Darcy if you want to catch up again?**

"Well, shit," Dan breathed, typing out a response. He really wanted to, god knows he needed a break with all of this ego bullshit happening around him. But as much as he'd like to leave Blaze alone, there were two problems. One, Blaze burned everything he touched and seemed to have an incessant need to touch everything. Two, it wouldn't be very responsible of him to leave without at least trying to help the ego. After all, he's another Phil. He wouldn't leave his best friend behind to finish a task, would he?

**Dan: sorry, phil and i are having a busy day**   
**_Louise is typing..._ **

"Who are you talking to?" Blaze asked, sitting beside Dan on the bed. Dan glared at him, but made room anyway.

"Do you know Louise?"

"Nope," Blaze replied, popping the 'p'. "Never seen her."

Dan snorted. "Of course Louise wouldn't have an evil twin. She's me and Phil's friend-"

"Phil and I."

"She's our friend," Dan finished, not wanting to face the 'Phil and I' debacle again. He had to wonder, with that shit eating grin, if the ego somehow knew the strife it had caused him last year? No. No, of course not...

The guy didn't even know about Louise.

"Ooh, someone's defensive," Blaze teased. Dan gave him an incredulous look.

"No, gross! She's married with two children, you know?" Dan explained, trying to wash away the horror from his mind. Louise was nice and all, but the image that brought to mind was not meant to be seen.

"Ahh, you don't like girls, I get it."

"I'm not gay, Blaze, no matter what you might want me to be." Dan said with the air of finality.

"But you're not straight." Blaze noted.

"I don't go around advertising that I'm straight, correct," Dan said, quickly becoming flustered. "We're not here to discuss my sexuality, Blaze. We're here to do a show, and we're going to do it right."

"I know a few things I could do right," Blaze sniggered.

"It's like I'm dealing with a twelve year old," Dan mumbled to himself. "I'm going to need a drink after this. Please, Blaze, before I toss myself off the roof of this place. From the top, and with more enthusiasm."

Dan looked at his phone again, smiling softly as he read the words Louise had sent to him.

**Louise:** **Don't** **overwork yourself though, okay?**

Looking up at Blaze again, Dan found himself sending a final message.

**Dan: easier said than done**

**~Void~**

Daniel walked in silence beside the curious human, footsteps falling in time with his. It was quite draining to think of oxygen all the time, just to summon it, but for Phil, Daniel would die in a heartbeat. Not that he could, really, but the sentiment was still there. The human beside him held a spot in Daniel's heart that used to outshine all else. But lately, Daniel had made room for a much brighter, more fiery light.

"You seem even more quiet than usual," Phil said, breaking Daniel out of his stupor. The demon looked at him, wondering how to respond.

 **"You humans don't understand the amount of energy it takes to exist,"**  he said nonchalantly.  **"Hmph. Organic life is so lucky."**

"You're tired?" Phil asked, concerned. The man found Daniel's cold hand and a small amount of warmth entered the demon's body. He shuddered, only being reminded of the never ending heat that cascaded from the ego he'd somehow managed to lose.

 **"Demons don't get tired,"**  Daniel said defiantly.  **"We draw our abilities from our environments, not ourselves."**

Phil rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure... hey, what's that?"

**"What?"**

Phil gestured over in the distance, where Daniel could see a small show of lights. Flashes of lightning struck the imaginary ground and green mist oozed from the sky, particles zipping ever closer. Daniel groaned aloud.

**"Avoid it. Their beef isn't with us, and if we're caught in the crossfire you won't make it out alive. The manor is this way."**

"What is it, though?"

Daniel sighed, remembering how often Phil needed to ask things. How often he needed to be reassured that Dan was okay, how often he had to be told not to steal other people's cereal. The man was so stubborn he'd have died almost immediately upon arrival, even if there  _was_  free oxygen. The demon imagined Phil approaching this place's twisted version of PJ, smiling to himself as the possibilities played out in his head. He may have stopped tormenting humans but old habits die hard.

 **"Sexual tension, mainly."**  Daniel commented, steering Phil away. The man shuddered. Daniel wasn't sure if it was due to the statement or his cold touch. Whatever it was seemed to work, however, and Phil continued on the path Daniel was setting for them.

"So egos can feel love, then? It's not just a human construct?" Phil asked.

Daniel laughed.  **"Phil, you're forgetting that egos are a human construct in themselves."**

"Oh," Phil chuckled. "Right."

 **"But to answer your question, yes."**  Daniel replied.  **"Egos have been known to date in the past, though it doesn't happen often. For those two though, it's mainly lust."**

"Who are they? How do you know this?" Phil asked, like a child buzzing with questions.

 **"Names hold power,"**  Daniel advised.  **"I won't mention them- not when they're this close. They'll think something suspicious is happening, it'll lead them right to us. But to answer your second question, I wasn't always a social outcast. Once, a long time ago, I had friends."**

"No, really?" Phil teased. Daniel smirked, imagining a bucket of water over Phil's head. He wouldn't drench the man, of course not, but what's the harm in a little scare?

"Dan!" He laughed, dashing quickly out of the way. Such mobility. Humans were really interesting creatures, Daniel mused.

 **"Yes, hard to believe, I know,"**  Daniel said sarcastically.  **"We weren't close or anything, but we knew each other. We trusted each other enough to confide our feelings for others in each other, until... well, we became less friendly, let's say that. Friendships don't tend to last between two negative energies."**

"I see," Phil started. "So demons can love as well?"

Daniel locked eyes with him. Something, perhaps a flash of colour in those white orbs seemed to convey Daniel's message. The demon squeezed Phil's hand, which had been steadily held around his for the majority of the trip. The cold touch sent shivers down Phil's spine.

**"I think you know the answer to that question, Phil."**

Phil opened his mouth to speak again, but Daniel shushed him. Before them stood a grand manor with a few lights lit on the inside, a nice cobbled pathway leading up to it. Several fountains littered the front yard, and smoke was billowing from one of the chimneys. Gunshots and laughter could be heard from the inside. Phil tried his best not to flinch at the harsh sounds.

**"No more questions, let's get this over with. It sounds as though our friend isn't alone."**

"What is this place?" Phil breathed.

 **"Darkiplier Manor,"**  Daniel said dryly, observing lightning flashing and thunder clapping suddenly in the sky.  **"He's a dramatic one, I tell you. Come on, I'll introduce you to our local celebrity."**

Phil's eyes widened as the door burst open, a man wearing pink suspenders over a lemon button up shirt stepping out. Upon his face was a large moustache, pinker than Phil had ever known the colour to be. His hair matched it, and his eyes when opened shone a mad shade of purple.

"Ah, Daniel!" He slurred, beckoning the pair inside. Phil eyed the gun held loosely in the man's hand, gulping audibly.

"It's been a while, old friend!" Wilford chortled. "And is this Blaze? It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Daniel smiled coolly at the other human, who regarded him with a challenging expression.  **"Actually, Wilford, this isn't Blaze. We have some matters we'd like your expertise on, that is, if you could spare some time for us."**

Wilford glanced upstairs quickly, but shook himself out of whatever he'd been worried about.

"Of course, anything for an old friend! Now let's see... what can old Warfstache do for you?"

Daniel kept his hand on Phil's, warning him not to speak. Phil wouldn't dare. Wilford certainly seemed mad enough as he was- Phil didn't want to know what he was like in an unstable state.

 **"Privately, Wilford."**  Daniel explained. The man's eyes widened.

"Well see, I don't know how private it can be, but you can rely on me... hehe, that rhymed. Warfstache has still got it. Come, follow me..."

Daniel locked eyes with Phil once more, gesturing for him to follow. Making no sound, Phil continued to hold Daniel's hand as if his life depended on it. He hoped Daniel didn't mind.

Daniel only smiled and tightened his grip. He might as well enjoy this while it lasted.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Void~**

"So now that we're far away from the prying eyes of, uh,  _everyone else_ ," Wilford began, drawing the curtains closed despite it being dark out. "What is it you'd like to talk about? You know, the last time I saw you around here, you weren't so serious, Daniel. Perhaps we could have a few drinks, for old time's sake?"

Daniel smiled politely, though he had to admit the offer was tempting. But still, he had more important matters to discuss. Neither he nor Wilford were going anywhere, there'd be plenty of time to catch up after Phil got back home.

 **"I'm a demon, Will. Being serious is my job,"**  Daniel explained, though he cracked a smile. Phil still held onto his hand, somewhat hidden in the enormous shadow the demon cast despite the room being quite lit.

"Now Dark says the same thing," Wilford mused, sitting with a flourish. "But I digress. If it's a serious matter, then I'll play along."

Daniel grinned, unnerving Phil slightly. Wilford seemed unperturbed.  **"Wonderful. Now, as you may notice, my friend here isn't exactly what most would call... normal."**

Wilford eyed Phil curiously. Soft blue met wild purple, hardened by possibly years of madness and anguish. Phil almost didn't want to know what those eyes had seen.

"He looks just the same as I am, to be fair," Wilford shrugged. The man began to swing in his chair, twirling his gun in his hands. Daniel's hand tightened around Phil's.

 **"Yes, that's what I'm getting at."**  Daniel said, prepared to shield Phil if something were to happen.  **"He's... he's human."**

Wilford's eye twitched. "I... I don't understand."

 **"Wilford, listen to me,"**  Daniel said, on his feet in an instant. He needed to fix the situation before it got any worse. The tall demon towered over the shorter figure, who stared him in the eyes defensively.  **"I know you don't like to talk about your past, but please... he needs to get home."**

"I'm not human," Wilford argued. "I belong here just as much as anyone else, you hear me?"

Wilford unsheathed a small dagger, waving it around in a threatening way before Daniel. Phil shrunk further and further into the darkness, unsure if he should interrupt the conversation. This didn't seem to be going to plan.

 **"It's not a matter of what you are, it's a matter of what you once were."**  Daniel corrected.  **"Now we don't want much. We would just like you to tell us how we can get Phil back in his body."**

"And as you've so gracefully pointed out, I'm a  _human_ ," Wilford spat. "How would I know? I thought you knew me better than this, but  _no_. Oh look, I'm Wilford Warfstache and I just  _magically_ have all the answers, don't I? Oh hardee har, now if you're just going to bring up the arduous ordeals of my past I'm afraid you must take your leave!"

Daniel hissed, frightening Phil. Even Wilford cowered a little, hand shaking as he attempted to keep hold of his gun.

 **"You could have helped, you idiot."**  Daniel growled.  **"But you refused. And now, you're going to learn the hard way how it is to be on a demon's bad side..."**

Phil wanted to speak, wanted to stop Daniel as he could see Wilford was afraid. He was a scared, lonely man with some obvious issues. Yes, he might be trigger happy. But did that make him bad?

Darkness enveloped Wilford as he grunted in pain, Daniel raising a palm, and-

Phil was about to say something, but instead found his mouth being clamped shut by someone behind him. His muffled sounds echoed slightly as the being sighed, alerting everyone in the room to his presence. Lighting flashed outside, illuminating Daniel's face for the first time. Phil was surprised at just how similar the demon looked to his housemate. Daniel glared icily at whoever was holding Phil, but didn't move.

"Now, now," the voice of a man said dangerously close to Phil's ear. "I'll release your friend if you release mine."

 **"Like hell you would,"**  Daniel spat, but still kept his distance. The room flashed red and blue, and with a sinking feeling, Phil felt he could identify the one holding him. The terrified yet determined look in Daniel's eyes only fueled his belief.

"Tut tut. Standing up to me in my own home? You should be ashamed, Daniel. You know as well as I that I could rip you to shreds if I so desired."

 **"Bite me,"**  Daniel challenged. 

A low chuckle reverberated through the room, and the faces of the other two occupants were illuminated red. The tight grip on Phil's arm increased and the man whimpered involuntarily at the pain.

"You're weak," the voice said. "This human has stolen your energy for too long. Come, Daniel. We were once friends, were we not?"

Daniel gritted his teeth. His face looked even more inhuman in the light. Reluctantly, Daniel lowered Wilford to the ground.

Phil felt the man relinquish his hold, drawing breath for what felt like the first time in minutes. Phil's scared eyes met Wilford's own and they seemed to come to an understanding. Neither of them quite liked being handled by demons... perhaps they'd have to deal with his revelation differently than expected.

Phil turned to face his captor, swallowing as his fears were realised. He was right. For the first time in his life, Phil wished he'd been wrong.

Darkiplier grimaced coldly at the room's occupants. "Now might I ask what the hell is going on here?"

**~Groundlands~**

Dan lay alone in his bed, staring up at the dark hotel ceiling. The last two days had been weird, to say the least. From missing a night of sleep to tutoring another Phil, he felt more tired than he'd been in a while. Despite how nonchalant he'd been acting around Blaze, he truly didn't know how to feel about the ego's appearance. He just felt as though he needed to cope with it, because running out in confusion wouldn't help anyone.

On one hand, it was ridiculous. Another dimension, where anything that gained enough of a following became alive? Get real. What were the limitations? Did characters in movies and novels count? Were there Harry Potter characters floating around in a void because they too had a fanbase? Nobody had really even given a thought to their dark egos after they'd created them. Dan had seen probably three pictures and one fanfiction, and that was it.

And possessing Phil's body? How could  _that_  happen?

Dan groaned loudly, rubbing his fingers on his temple. He needed a sleep. A good, long sleep and possibly a few bottles of wine. But even then, knowing how Blaze could set things alight, maybe having alcohol around wasn't a good idea.

"Thinking of me?"

Dan opened his eyes to meet the piercing red of Blaze's as the ego walked into the room. He insisted on being shirtless, despite how flustered it made Dan. In fact, Dan had reason to believe the little shit was doing this on purpose.

"You wish." Dan sighed. "Can you turn the fan on?"

Blaze rolled his eyes, but flicked the switch anyway. Cool whirring filled the room as Blaze flopped down on the bed beside Dan's, kicking off the blanket.

"You've got the script down?" Dan asked, though it was more of a hope than a question at this point. To his surprise, Blaze nodded.

"Yeah, I've got it."

Dan stared at him for a long second. "You sure?"

Blaze snorted. "Apart from a little confusion about Truth Bombs, I think I'll be fine."

"You're confused about Truth Bombs?" Dan asked incredulously. "How on earth are you confused about that, it's the easiest part of the show."

"I don't know the rules! The script just says 'Truth Bombs', what even is it?"

"I can't believe I have to teach  _you_ Truth Bombs..." Dan muttered, hoisting himself up. They'd brought a copy of the game with them, of course. Digging deep into his suitcase, Dan brought out some unused cards.

"It's meant to be played with more people, but you basically just have to roast the other person and usually there's more mystery, but since it's just us two... look, see this one? If I was the god of anything, what would I be the god of?"

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "So I write it on the card?"

"No, no, on a separate one, one of these flimsier ones." Daniel said, placing the card down. "But you might want to use notes on your phone or something, we don't want to burn the place down..."

Blaze pulled out Phil's phone and opened the notes app, typing a response. He showed it to Dan, who blinked at the bright light.

"The god of... boring activities. Well fuck you too," Dan responded. Blaze merely chuckled.

"Well you'd be the god of flaming homosexuals," Dan said, though it really wasn't an insult. 

"Oh yes, you'd be my favourite subject," Blaze drawled, watching Dan's face redden slightly.

Blaze snorted and leaned over, trying to see the next question. He never thought this would be fun, but he couldn't wait to go home and show Daniel the amazing things he'd been learning here. If only he could figure out how to get back...

"And if you had any pet, I'd bet it would be something boring... like a goldfish," Blaze said, poking his tongue out as Dan mock gasped.

"How dare you call Susan 2 boring?"

Blaze stared at him in confusion. "I... you actually have a goldfish called Susan 2-?"

"No, no..." Dan corrected, waving him off. "It's an inside joke."

"Ah..." Blaze trailed off. Dan didn't seem to want to explain, and smirked as he looked up at Blaze again.

"For the record, Phil and I have always wanted a dog..."

"Dogs are pretty cool," Blaze agreed. "Oh, except for Dark's pet, Chica..."

Dan raised a brow. "Um... you mean the dog from the ego video?"

"I haven't actually seen this video you keep mentioning, you know." Blaze said. "She's a beast- one time she actually ate Dark and Anti because Dark forgot to feed her..."

The ego shuddered, and Dan fixed him with a curious look. "What does she usually eat?"

Blaze shrugged, deciding to play around with the man. "The souls of the innocent."

At Dan's shocked face, Blaze giggled. "Kidding, kidding..."

"Riight," Dan said, backing away slowly. "Well, if you had a pet, it would probably be a dragon of some kind."

"Why a dragon?" Blaze asked, close to laughter. Really, that was absurd. Dragons didn't exist- everyone knew that.

Dan shrugged. "You know, you're, like, the fire guy and all that. Phil's bloody obsessed with dragons, shouldn't you be too?"

Blaze sighed. "I'm not Phil, okay? I don't like what he likes, I don't even know him. All I know is what Daniel tells me, and..."

"And what does Daniel say?" Dan asked, intrigued.

"Well, he told me that Phil is a good person. That his smile could light up the room, that he was special, and he was always busy making sure that you wouldn't lose him. But that was then. We don't really talk much about you or Phil anymore..."

"Why is that?" Dan asked. "It sounds..."

Dan reeled back in shock. "It was him, wasn't it? He was the one whispering in my ear when Phil and I moved in, he was the one telling me... making me think... oh god, this is so  _weird_..."

Blaze chuckled and moved closer. "Yeah, my thoughts exactly."

"But Daniel... he doesn't...  _like_ Phil, does he?" Dan asked. "Because if Phil is where you're meant to be and something happens-"

"No, no way..."

Blaze denied it, but something in his heart tingled with guilt. What if Daniel really did like Phil? What if he wanted Phil to stay in the void forever? Where would Blaze be if he didn't have Daniel?

He didn't realise he was crying until he heard a tear sizzle on his warm skin. Dan looked up in concern.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

Blaze sniffed, wiping away his tears. No. This wasn't the answer, it couldn't be. Blaze wouldn't let it be. He stood and regarded the worried looking human before him with a determined expression.

"I need to get back..."

Dan gulped audibly, looking down. He'd actually wanted to talk more with Blaze about his own alter ego, but he knew that sometimes everyone needed space. Hopefully, Blaze understood the concept of Truth Bombs well enough now to perform if he was unsuccessful in going back home. It was hard to imagine that this conversation had occurred because of a silly game.

Dan hated to admit it, but he'd grown used to the chaos he associated with Phil's ego. With him gone... well, Dan supposed he'd wanted things back to normal again. He only hoped that Phil was safe, wherever he was...

 


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Void~**

"Wilford, are you alright?" Darkiplier asked delicately, helping the man up from the floor.

Daniel continued to glare at the manifestation before him, holding the now short of breath human in his arms. He'd done so much to keep Phil alive, and he'd almost died at the hands of the demon that Daniel used to call his friend.  _Some friend_...

"I'll be fine, Dark, don't worry about me-"

**"Will,"**  the demon commanded, and Daniel could feel Phil shaking at the boom of his voice.

Wilford bit his bottom lip. "I must admit, I overreacted. The fault is mine for assuming the statement was an insult."

Darkiplier regarded Daniel coldly, not glancing at Phil at all. "And what exactly is it you said that caused my dear friend to fall into such hysterics, Daniel?"

"He didn't say anything!" Phil said, voice cracking slightly. Dark turned to look at him, unamused.

**"What my friend is _trying_ to say,"** Daniel interrupted, squeezing Phil's hand as a message to  _shut the hell up._   **"Is that I was asking an innocent, if slightly tactless question. The fault is mine."**

"No, no I insist," Wilford said. "I shouldn't be so touchy... greatness often comes from dark origins, does it not?"

**"Shut up, all of you!"**  Dark bellowed. Even Daniel shrank a little in the tremendous red aura the demon gave off.

"A second ago you were at each other's throats, and now you both insist on taking the blame! Which one of you started this?!"

Phil stepped forward, despite Daniel wanting to keep him safe and close to him. The demon watched with bated breath as the man approached Dark, who seemed even more distressed than usual.

"Technically, it was me," Phil admitted. "I'm not meant to be here, and Daniel just wanted to help."

Dark let out a heavy sigh. "You egos have me at my wit's end..."

Wilford hastily drew up a chair and Dark collapsed in it, beckoning the other occupants to sit as well. Daniel caught Phil's confused look, but shook his head. No use in wondering about the sudden mood change.

"Daniel, I'm inclined to ask how you came into this human's company?" Dark asked.

**"I'd be inclined to respond that I merely found him at my residence,"**  Daniel responded. Dark nodded. Daniel remembered that Dark had always appreciated formalities. Phil seemed even more confused, and Daniel sent him a  _stay quiet_  look.

_Oh Phil... I wish this hadn't happened this way..._

"But you wouldn't have done this for any human. I assume this is Phil, your host's roommate? I've heard quite a bit about you..."

Daniel looked down, clenching his fists. Dark knew what he was doing, bringing his friendship with Phil into question. The demon hoped he was ready to play dirty.

"I'm sure," Phil said nervously, as the question was directed mainly at him.

"Now I'm sure Wilford has assured you of his lack of knowledge on the subject of possession," Dark continued.

"Well, I just thought, you know, since he's a-" Phil began, before shutting his mouth in haste. Daniel felt himself panic, which is something the demon hadn't felt in a long time.

"It's alright," Wilford said, coming forward with a sigh. "I was once a human, yes. But it seems what you want me for is a topic of possession, and with that, regretfully, I can't be of any help. I am not an ego. I am my own person, and I have no experience on the matter."

Dark nodded to Wilford. It was strange how the man seemed to regard Wilford with so much respect, yet terrified all other forms of being with no remorse.

"Thank you, Will. I do believe your mistress is still upstairs, if you'd like to resume where you left off?"

Wilford blushed a bright crimson, bumbling out of the door as Dark watched him leave. Daniel thought he caught a smile on the demon's face, but it quickly vanished.

"Look, Daniel, I'll be short with you. I've been working for years to keep this man sane and so help me, if one of you two idiots fuck it up, I won't hesitate to take care of the problem."

Dark sighed, adjusting his tie. His blue aura swelled to match his red, which had shrunken a little as he'd calmed.

"Now Phil... I understand you don't know how you got here..." Dark stated.

Phil was still ultimately confused. Earlier, he'd thought this man was going to kill him. But here they were, sitting around having a civilised conversation?

**"We think Blaze possessed Phil's body with such force that his own soul was thrown back here,"** Daniel explained.

"Like Newton's third law," Phil suggested.

Daniel placed his hands over his face, despite the others barely being able to see it in the dark room.

"The laws of physics don't apply here, Phil..."

"Oh, right..."

"Anyway," Dark interrupted. "If you two are quite finished, I'd like to draw attention to the issue at hand. Blaze is inexperienced in possession and knows nothing of the human world. This is a serious problem... is anyone else missing?"

**"No,"**  Daniel said.  **"Not that I know of. Blaze doesn't really talk to many other egos, though- I doubt he had an accomplice."**

"Well of course, except for... well,  _he's_ not gone. He caused me a bit of trouble outside earlier, but I assume you caught all that?"

Dark sighed, head in his hands. "No matter... are there any mirrors where you were last staying?"

Phil groaned aloud. "We're on tour, dammit... I don't even know what city we're in at the moment."

"That... complicates things, I admit," Dark muttered. "Daniel, it seems you must possess your host and educate Blaze yourself."

**"But we already thought of that, I don't trust Phil around anyone here and besides, he needs someone to generate oxygen for him,"**  Daniel explained.

Dark raised a brow at the demon and his friend. Phil felt his stomach sinking with realisation.

"Well, you don't give me enough credit. While you are with your host, I am well equipped to provide for your friend here..."

Phil didn't like the way the demon's eyes gleamed at him. Daniel rose, slamming his fist on the table.

**"Don't give me that shit, Dark,"**  Daniel growled.  **"Even if I trusted you, you have too many enemies. I don't want Phil to get caught up in your silly little battles or games."**

Dark shoved Daniel angrily aside, red aura growing larger as he seethed. Phil watched on, not really knowing how he should respond.

**"My 'silly little battles' are the only thing keeping this Void from falling apart,"**  Dark spat. "You'd do well to remember it the next time you threaten me. I provide for all who live in my manor, and I'm a man of my word,"

Dark turned to face Phil. "Get up, go and join those idiot androids in the kitchen while we finish our little... talk."

Phil didn't know what the heck the demon was talking about, but figured he needed to get out of the room, fast. With one last look at Daniel, Phil fled the room, not knowing where he was going to end up.

**~Groundlands~**

It was ten minutes until the show started. Blaze had been so eager to show his ability to perform after last time's disaster. Dan could hardly believe he'd memorised the script in time. But here they were, backstage, listening to the horrendously wonderful ladydoor remix they'd found on the internet.

Dan had to say, they had the best fans ever. 

But he felt a tingle. A strange feeling, like something foreign had entered his body. He was about to shrug it off as nerves, but he froze in his tracks when he heard a chillingly familiar voice.

_**"Dan?"** _

"Shit, it's you..." Dan breathed, clutching at his head. Since Blaze had appeared, his own alter ego had never left Dan's mind. "You're Daniel, you're my ego..."

_**"In the flesh... well, not literally. But there isn't much time for- actually, I guess that depends on you..."** _

"I... uh, what?" Dan asked, desperate to listen to what the voice had to say. It had been so long since he'd heard any input from the mysterious being that had once tormented him.

_**"What are you doing right now? Where are you?"** _

"I'm about to go on stage, this isn't really a good time," Dan sighed. "What are you here for? After all these months of silence?"

_**"Phil's here with me in the void. I need to possess your body in order to teach Blaze to properly harness his abilities. But I know how much this tour means to you- Phil's expressed his passion for it. I'll stay here and talk to Blaze when you're done, okay?"** _

"Um, sure, but... wait, you want to stay and watch us perform?" Dan asked, dread sinking in his stomach. "I..."

"Come on Dan, we're about to go on!" Blaze urged, some excited flames dancing across his fingers. Dan strained his ears but couldn't hear any more. Sighing heavily, he decided there was nothing else he could do but go on with the show.

"Yes, we are." Dan agreed, stepping out into the bright lights and cheers of their fandom family.

 


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Groundlands~**

"TOP OF THE MORNIN' TO YA LADDIES, MY NAME IS JACKSEPTICEYE and welcome to WHAT DID YOU SEE FIRST?!"

It was late afternoon and Seán was finally ready to kick back and record some videos. He'd slept in this morning, waking up with a massive headache that he blamed on illness, and he'd been feeling under the weather all day. But he knew he needed to get  _something_ done. The pulsating muscles behind his eyes served only to distract him from his goal as the blaring lights of the computer screen forced him to blink.

"So this game, basically, it shows you an image and you have to say what you saw first. It's meant to test if you have a dirty mind, but we all know my mind is clean, clean as can be! I'm a sweet little Irish boy! Ah, fook..."

Seán hissed in pain, holding his head in his hands. On and off, all day. What the hell had brought this on? He was feeling fine yesterday, after all, and he didn't eat anything weird. He'd done nothing to get sick, so why was he feeling so groggy and irritable?

"Fook me, I need some aspirin," Seán grumbled, taking his headphones off and stumbling into his kitchen. His feet felt cold on his wooden floor and he began to wonder if he had some kind of fever. Man, that would suck.

Seán found the pain relievers and fetched a glass of water, swallowing two pills whole. When he pulled his hand away from his face, he felt a little sick. Blood had dripped into his palm, flowing over his hand to spatter on the ground.

"Shit, shit, not right now..." Seán cursed, quickly running to the sink. In the reflection he caught in the window, Seán could see he looked ghastly. Blood was running steadily from his nose and he froze for a moment, not knowing exactly what to do.

"Is it head up or down? Fook, I was never meant to be a doctor..." Seán sighed, deciding to let the blood drain out. He never usually had nosebleeds that lasted this long, and he was already feeling dizzy from his headache. He found himself swaying to the side, unable to catch himself before he slipped and fell. He felt his head crack as he hit the tile, and saw no more.

All was silent for a few moments, the slow dripping of the tap echoing in the room. Suddenly, the body twitched.

"Why don't you ever just let me in?" a voice hissed from inside him. Seán's body paled, his hair turning bright green. His eyes opened suddenly, casting a dim green light across the darkening room.

"It isn't like you're hard to kill, resisting just makes it harder for your own body to heal." The voice spat, the body getting up off the floor. His hands were coated in dried blood and his clothes to match, as he cracked his neck.

"No matter... It's a shame I didn't catch you at the airport. It'll take even longer to find him this way. You really aren't the most resourceful, but your pathetic self is all I have access to, I guess..."

He reached over and plucked a knife from his knife block, weighing it out in his palm. His eyes narrowed as his grin spread from ear to ear.

"Perfect... This will show him what's coming the next time he betrays me..."

Anti tucked the knife inside his sleeve and stormed outside, grabbing Seán's wallet on his way out. Just a short trip to Liverpool and this would all be over...

**~Void~**

Phil could still hear arguing coming from the room he'd just left, but he'd seen the look in Daniel's eyes as he was going. He needed to do as Dark said. Daniel may be strong, but Phil could hazard a guess that Dark was much stronger.

Androids? First egos, then demons, now robots? If Phil hadn't already seen things for what they really were here he'd have thought he was dreaming.

But the issue now was that this manor was so large and confusing. Where in the heck was he meant to find the kitchen?

Phil supposed he was going to have to listen out. Perhaps whatever androids lived here were loud and obnoxious. Really, Phil could only hope. He really didn't want to be pacing the halls of this manor for too long, lest he run into any other unfriendly egos.

Phil could hear mumbling coming from a room as he passed it, so he turned back and opened the door. A curious looking man with a blindfolded face sat there, talking seemingly to himself.

_"And then the human opened the door that led to the room of the Host, but upon seeing the figure the human quickly left to find what he was really looking for..."_

"That was weird," Phil muttered to himself after leaving the room. He had no idea who that man was supposed to be, but figured he should heed Daniel's warning about the other egos. Not all of them were safe.

"Suh, dude?" came a voice from around the corner. Phil turned to see a cool looking man dressed in a black tank top and bright sunglasses. The Bing logo flashed across his shirt.

"Uh, I'm fine," Phil said, approaching him. He looked human- rather like Mark, so he supposed this was one of the man's many egos.

"Haven't seen you around here before, what's your name?"

"I'm Phil," Phil said, not seeing the point in lying. This guy seemed nice, if a little 2000's.

"Name's Bing, I'm the cooler,  _better_  search engine," Bing proclaimed. Phil could see behind his back that he was holding a skateboard, also emblazoned with the Bing logo. Phil didn't want to hurt him by telling him that nobody used Bing to search anymore.

"Ah, I see... um, you wouldn't happen to be an android, would you?" Phil asked.

"Yep, me and my buddy Google in here were built from the ground up, isn't that right Google?"

"I am in no way affiliated with your inferior programming," sounded a voice from the room. Phil cautiously stepped inside to see another Mark, wearing a blue shirt with the letter 'G' on the front.

"Whoa, you two are meant to be search engines, huh?" Phil asked, looking around. The kitchen seemed very modern, but it was hard to tell because of all the flour everywhere. The robot he assumed was Google sat upon the bench, looking with disdain at the ground.

"Yeah, Google's good at searching for things but not actually doing them," Bing teased. Google flushed, which is something Phil didn't think robots could do. But then, he supposed, this was a void full of demons and egos. Anything was possible.

"Is that why there's flour everywhere?" Phil asked. Bing laughed.

"Yeah, Google was trying to make a cake for Septiplier's birthday,"

"I cannot project my own recipe while I am performing a task," Google defended, folding his arms as he glared at Bing. "It was your inferior searching skills that led to this."

"Of course it was," Bing said sarcastically. "Hey Phil, do you skate?"

"Um.... no," Phil said, smiling a little. He rather liked these two. "Was never cool enough to be a sk8er boi,"

"Avril Lavigne's 2002 pop hit," Google explained to Bing, who became flustered.

"Bro, just because I wasn't around in 2002 doesn't mean I don't know what happened!"

"You could have fooled me." Google shrugged.

Phil guessed there was some kind of rivalry between these two. Perhaps they fought about who was the better search engine- seemed about right.

"Okay, so, anyway..." Phil said, trying to alleviate the tension. The fact that Dark sent him in here with these two meant that they clearly were the least likely to kill him. He supposed Dark would come and find him when he was done with Daniel, hopefully with neither of them getting hurt.

"It is nice to meet you," Google started, shaking hands with Phil. "I am Google IRL, my primary objective is to answer questions as quickly as possible."

"I'm Phil," Phil replied, "you don't have any other objectives, do you?"

Google smirked. "My secondary objective is to destroy mankind."

Phil laughed nervously. "Haha... okay. Dark sent me in here, so..."

"Dude, he must want you to help with the cake," Bing said excitedly, rushing over to the cupboards. Google pressed his hands to his head, groaning into his palms.

"Human festivities are irrational and meaningless," Google said stubbornly.

"I'm guessing you haven't had a birthday?" Phil suggested.

"I am a search engine, created on September 4th 1998, I have never had a birthday," Google explained. Phil had to wonder if this was why the robot felt that birthdays weren't special.

"You're... quite young," Phil realised. "Man, I went for eleven years without Google being a thing?"

"Bing was created on June 1st 2009, effectively making him a child." Google said, glancing sideways at the other robot, who shot him a rude hand gesture.

"Screw you, Google, I could censor that if I wanted to," Bing retorted, pulling out some more flour.

"Inhale my metaphorical male sex organ, enragement child." Google grumbled. Phil attempted to hold back a snort.

"You know what, Google?" Bing said, tossing some flour at the blue shirted robot. "I'm feeling  _lucky_."

"You clearly need something to take the  _edge_  off," Google replied, unable to hide the small smirk that accompanied his pun. The android scooped up a handful of flour and returned it to Bing, who cackled as he hid behind the pantry door. Phil watched on, chuckling. These two clearly only pretended to hate each other.

"So whose birthday is it again?" Phil asked.

Both search engines stopped immediately.

"Today is Septiplier's birthday," they answered in unison, before going back to their flour war.

Septiplier, septiplier... like Mark and Jack's ship name? Phil gulped aloud. What if there was a Phan floating around in here? Surely there wouldn't be- Daniel would have mentioned it.

Bing jumped out from his cover, running to the other side of the room as he dodged Google's throws. Flour was everywhere- Phil had to wonder if this is how the original mess had started.

Bing launched a handful of flour that caught Google square in the face, making Bing double over in laughter.

"You know what they say, bada  _Bing_  bada boom," the android laughed, pulling out the dreaded finger guns.

Google scooped up the remaining flour on the bench, forming a ball as he approached the other side of the room. As he threw the weapon, a man nobody had expected to see wandered into the room. The flour ball hit Bing in the chest, and some of it flew sideways to spatter on Darkiplier's otherwise pristine suit.

The demon glared at the androids, who had the decency to look ashamed.

"I'd expect this kind of behaviour from the Jims, but from you?" Dark uttered. "I thought robots were meant to be sophisticated."

"Sorry, dude," Bing said.

"I apologise," Google sighed.

"Good. Ok Google, tidy up. Bing, please go and make sure Septiplier isn't dead in a bathtub somewhere... hopefully, they treated you justly?" Dark asked Phil.

Phil observed Google roll his eyes and mutter obscenities to himself as he began to sweep up the flour. Bing quickly left, until it was just Phil and Dark in the conversation. Phil swallowed. Without Daniel here, Dark certainly seemed a lot more intimidating.

"Yeah, I'm fine... where's Daniel?"

Dark smiled coldly. "He took rather a lot of persuading, but eventually he agreed to possess Dan and coach Blaze into returning here. The act should send you to your body again immediately, but if it doesn't, we may have some... problems."

"So," Phil said, still curious about Wilford. "Wilford's a human, but he lives here?"

Dark glanced quickly around the room. "Wilford is his own ego. He's come a long way from the man he once was, and he can come and go as he pleases. He is... a rare case. He and I have quite a history..."

"Ah..." Phil said, not wanting to push further than he had to. It was clear that Dark was reluctant to talk about Wilford, and Phil didn't want to push any more buttons.

"So, Septiplier, huh?" Phil said.

Dark smirked. "Yes, an amalgamation of Mark and his friend Seán that their fans created. He's... quite unstable, to say the least. Still, enough people love him that he can't die, but all he does is focus on the negative."

"I see," Phil said. "Does this happen with every ship?"

Dark met his eyes. "Only the ones that get out of control. Before you ask, I know you aren't part of a rogue ego other than Blaze. I know every inch of this void like I know the back of my hand, and I can say for certain I've never seen a Phan anywhere."

Phil let out a breath of relief. "I guess we treated our ship with enough care, or something..."

Dark grinned. "Or something. Now, I sent you here because these two morons were the least likely to kill you on sight, but if you're going to be staying for a while, I must insist you acquaint yourself with the other members of the house. I'll accompany you."

"So Daniel won't be back anytime soon?" Phil asked, something inside him shrinking. Hope? Happiness? No, that was too drastic. But still, some part of Phil knew he would miss the sarcastic demon he'd spent his last few days with.

"If you had met your ego, you'd have little faith as well. Trust me." Darkiplier drawled.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

******~Groundlands~**

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Blaze asked once they were back at the hotel.

"Stage fright?" Dan suggested, biting his lip. He'd forgotten how this used to feel- how the constant chills and shivers could send him spiraling into nervous breakdowns at any instant. He'd forgotten how it had felt for Daniel to be a part of him. Until now he hadn't fully realised that these irrational feelings and emotions were being caused by a demon, but then, until now everything had seemed okay.

"But you seemed so excited to do the show earlier, then all of a sudden you're stumbling over your words and trying to laugh it off... Goddammit Dan, I needed you out there, what's wrong?"

Dan couldn't focus. His mind was aflame as he felt side effects from his pills that he'd never felt after the first few months taking them. Blaze's image kept changing into Phil's but those burning red sclera left an afterimage in Dan's thoughts. His heartbeat quickened and he tried to breathe, realising a little late what was really happening.

"Shit, Daniel, stop!" Dan grunted, attempting to swallow down his heartburn. "Please, you're hurting me!"

"Daniel?" Blaze asked. "What about him? Is he trying to possess you? Let him in, I need to talk to him-!"

"No, Blaze, you can't," Dan wheezed. "Not now, it'll kill me."

"Why?" Blaze asked incredulously. 

"My antidepressants, remember?" Dan groaned. "I started taking them to keep him out and he must have got the message, but now that he's trying to get back they're acting up and- oh, I don't feel so good..."

"Can you stand?" Blaze asked, concerned. He made to help the man up, but Dan waved him off. He didn't think he could handle second degree burns with these side effects.

Dan bit his lip again from the pain, tasting blood. "I need food, quickly. Bring me some bread or something, I don't know. Actually no, not bread! That makes it worse... Uh... shit, just anything, please!"

Dan hadn't felt this ill in a long time. He could clearly remember the first time he took the pills, the day he spent in bed with horrible cramps and heaving through a burning chest, wondering what the higher dosage would do to him if this was the smallest? It had gotten better gradually, each time he upped the dosage it would cause his body discomfort but eventually he found that it was worth it. He stopped feeling useless and instead began to feel numb.

"Daniel, I know you can hear me, you prick," Dan wheezed, holding his chest.

_**"Why can't I possess you? It's been years, you should be off the pills by now..."** _

"News flash, you can't just quit antidepressants," Dan hissed. "You've got to wean off them just like you wean onto them. How was I supposed to know you just up and left? Now please get back in there and try not to kill me doing it,"

_**"This complicates things... how high is your dosage?"** _

Dan could feel the symptoms subsiding, his breaths becoming deeper. He sighed in relief.

"It's, like, 20mg a day or something," Dan breathed. "You want me to stop taking them? The last time I missed a week of taking these I went bat shit crazy, you know?"

_**"Do you want me to help or not?"** _

The voice was cold, but Dan could recognise the concern in it. 

"You're a demon, aren't you meant to try to make my life worse?" Dan spat.

_**"I gave up on that goal a long time ago,"** _

Dan was about to answer again, but Blaze ran into the room, a bag of crisps in his hands.

"I don't know what passes for food in this place but I found these," he said, tossing them to Dan.

"Thanks," Dan said, opening the bag and eating a few. He didn't feel any of the symptoms anymore, but he hated to let the ego down after his clear moment of panic.

_**"Oh Blaze... can you tell him I missed him?"** _

Dan swallowed and looked up at Blaze. "Daniel missed you,"

"Fuck knows I miss him too," Blaze groaned. "Is he there?"

Dan rolled his eyes. "He's here," he sighed. He didn't think this was how his afternoon would go, but he supposed it would help the situation to be a translator right now.

"Daniel, are you alright?" Blaze asked. "How have you been? Are you still at home?"

_Home? These egos and demons live in houses?_

Dan waited a moment, letting Daniel finish, before speaking. "He says that your home is gone because it's tied to your presence, but it'll come back soon. He says he's been bored, but he's fine."

"Is Phil there?" Blaze asked.

Dan paused. "Yes, Phil's there. Daniel left him with... Darkiplier. Shit, is that bad?"

Blaze let out a long breath. "That could go either way... for your sake, I hope it goes the good way. Listen, Dan, can you ask him... ask him if having Phil around is the same as having me around?"

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Dan teased. Blaze's eyes flashed dangerously as his cheeks flushed.

"Shut up, just ask him the question."

"He says that Phil is like the sun, but you're like Canis Majoris," Dan said, thinking to himself that Daniel seemed to think rather highly of Blaze. "Whatever that means."

The way that Blaze seemed to- no, he really  _did_  light up, told Dan that Blaze thought the same of the demon he lived with.

Was it possible that... no, it couldn't be. But then, it would make so much sense... They didn't... like each other, did they?

 _Who am I kidding, of course they do_ , Daniel mused. He knew better than to say anything right now, when the tension was so high already, and he didn't really know what to do with this information, so he sat back and spoke Daniel's words as he thought about what was to come.

**~Void~**

"He's not a real doctor, is he?" Phil asked as they walked out of one of the many rooms in the manor. Dark had insisted that each of Mark's egos be made aware of his presence so that none of them tried to kill or interview him. Neither of them knew how long it would take Blaze to return to the Void, and this was very unsettling to Phil. He had a life, people who cared about him, people that didn't even know he was gone. Except, hopefully, for Dan...

"What gave it away?" Dark mused.

"Well, his diagnosis seems to consist of 'You're dying'," Phil said. 

Dark smirked. "More often than not, people are. Nonetheless, we have one more person to visit after Dr. Iplier, and he isn't likely to bother you during your stay, but... well, it  _is_ his birthday."

"Septiplier?" Phil asked. "I... I'll admit, I still don't understand how that works."

"You watch the television show Steven Universe, correct?" Dark asked.

"How did you know that?" Phil asked.

"Daniel and I used to be quite close," Dark explained. "He talked about you a lot."

"Ah..." Phil said, knowing he shouldn't pry. "Right. Yes, I do. So they're like a fusion, then?"

"Precisely," Dark said, opening the door. Before him stood Bing, trying to comfort a large man who appeared to have four arms and hair with streaks of red and green.

"Dude, calm down, it's okay," Bing was saying.

"Why do I even have a birthday?" Septiplier wept. Phil noted that his voice seemed to be made up of two distinct voices, much like Malachite's had been in Steven Universe. Jack and Mark's tones mingled together. It was interesting, yes, but mostly disturbing. However, despite how unnatural this was, Phil's heart reached out for the younger amalgamation.

"We all have birthdays, man," Bing replied. "Come on, I'm sure people will come to this one."

"Everyone thinks I'm dead," Septiplier argued, holding himself around the middle. "And the ones that know I'm not think I should be killed."

"That's not true, man, see?" Bing asked, pulling up an old fashioned browser and projecting it on the wall. Phil could see in the Bing images section that thousands upon thousands of pictures were loaded with the search of 'septiplier'. The fusion looked up, sniffling. Phil saw with a start that the being had four eyes.

"People love you," Bing said, nudging him. Septiplier's eyes narrowed.

"People loved me in 2014," Septiplier corrected. "Now, I'm taboo."

"I wonder how the Valentine's Day video feels..." Phil mused, not expecting the two heads to turn towards him.

"Valentine's Day video?" Dark asked curiously. Phil reddened as Bing quickly looked it up, but the man was unable to object. Thousands of results came up, and Phil's eyes widened at just how inefficient his copyright removal really was. A video began playing.

_"Awrf, hi Dan. Happy Valentine's Day. I know you said we weren't going to do anything for Valentine's Day, but you had to go to bed leaving me for five hours with nothing to do. So, I have made this video because I love-"_

"Okay, that's enough," Phil said, swallowing. "Please, it was uncomfortable enough when it leaked."

"Sorry dude," Bing said, eyes drooping with shame.

"I thought I removed all of the copies of that thing..." Phil sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Bing smirked despite his sadness. "Not on my search engine. Hey, Septiplier. This is Phil, he's a human."

Septiplier had been watching the video intently, and now he turned to look at Phil, tear marks streaking from his eyes.

"A human? He's from the video, isn't he?" Septiplier asked.

"Yes," Phil explained. "It was an April fools prank that Dan and I never released... it... it almost tore our fans and our relationship apart..."

"I think you and Septiplier should have a talk," Dark said after a few moments of silence. "I'll be downstairs in the living area when you are finished.

Bing locked eyes with Phil. "Do you want me to keep playing the-?"

"No," Phil said. "No, it's fine. I can take it from here. You should go and help Google with the cake..."

Bing smiled as he passed Phil, whispering, "Good luck."

**~Groundlands~**

Anti had realised a bit late that he didn't know what hotel Blaze and his friend were staying at. Sat on a train with blood on his face, avoiding the stares of everyone he could. He'd never really liked the staring, but it seemed that no matter what universe he was in he couldn't escape it.

Was it the green hair? The bright green eyes? The blood? The visible scar across his neck that always bled into his form?

Anti growled and checked the time. It was a half eight in the evening and he'd barely made it two hours on this cursed train ride. People kept coming up to him and asking if he was okay, and he swore he might just break at the next one. Did he look okay? He was a glitch possessing the dead corpse of a famous YouTuber, and it was extremely obvious, but somehow the humans around him were oblivious.

"Idiots," Anti tsked, pulling his hood over his head. Four more hours, then he'd figure it out. This trip wouldn't be for nothing, no... For the one person he'd felt he could trust? Anti would walk to the other end of the Earth to make him pay.

"I'm in town and I was wondering if you wanted to collab?" Anti mumbled as he typed out the message, hitting send and waiting. Hopefully, 'Phil' would receive it and respond with a yes. If not, well, Anti had a few more tricks up his sleeve...


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Void~**

"So it happened to you too?" Phil asked after a few moments had passed. Everyone but he and the taller fusion of two men had left the room, and now Phil was stuck with the still weeping Septiplier.

"The fanbase?" Septiplier asked. "Yeah... after Mark and Jack got close, after people started to ship them together... I was created. At first, people loved me. I was fun, happy, joking. Then, I became more serious. Some people didn't like it..."

Septiplier sat down on the large bed opposite the door, and Phil sat beside him, placing a reassuring hand on his back.

"They just... I was just a joke to them, you know?" Septiplier sniffed. "And as soon as I started to become more real, more people would abandon me. Even Mark and Jack were uncomfortable with how detailed and expansive I'd become. They stopped talking and making videos because of me... because of the fans that built me up just to leave me..."

Phil took a moment to process this. It was all too familiar to him- feeling uncomfortable with some people that took a ship too far- but he'd never wondered how a ship might feel if it was suddenly abandoned.

"Mark and Jack would always play it up for the fans," Septiplier sighed. "They pretended. My existence was built on lies and deception, fueled by imagination. I'm nothing..."

"You're not nothing," Phil urged. "You might not have been intentional but that doesn't mean you're a mistake. Mark and Jack should have known they were fueling a fire by encouraging their fans, okay? I think... I think that's where Dan and I were right. We never entertained the idea of Phan. It was never real to us."

Septiplier looked down at Phil, two eyes blue and two eyes deep brown. He blinked.

"Phan...?"

"Me and Dan," Phil explained. "Our ship name. In 2012 we had a rough time because... well, the video we made as a joke was leaked, and suddenly, people didn't know what to believe..."

It hurt Phil to even think about it sometimes. The events that left some fans attempting suicide, their fanbase in a war over who was right, Dan crying alone in his room trying to battle the demons in his head.

"Was it real? Some thought so, some didn't. It all blew over and now it's taboo," Phil sighed. "It's not what I wanted. I wish the internet wasn't so brutal, but in a way, that's what I love about it. It's a place where you can be who you want to be- it shouldn't be a place where you're shot down for your beliefs."

Septiplier nodded. "I know that some people still love me. Some people- enough that I can't leave, anyway. I've tried..."

Phil silently pulled him into a hug. The words didn't need to be said to understand what the fusion had meant.

 _"Go make sure Septiplier isn't dead in a bathtub somewhere"_  Dark's words from earlier echoed in his mind. Phil was uncomfortably certain that Septiplier had contemplated ending his own life more than a few times.

"Nobody is worth nothing," Phil said reassuringly. "I promise. Even if the only ones who believe in you are fourteen year old girls who write bad fanfiction for the internet, you've inspired them. Trust me, I've got experience on the matter,"

Septiplier smirked sadly. "I've never met anyone else who understands... thank you..."

Phil tugged gently on the fusion's left hands. "Come on buddy, we've got a birthday party to go to."

**~Groundlands~**

"What's a collab?" Blaze asked, brushing stray hair from his face. It was night, but egos don't need sleep. Dan, however, was about to drift off when Blaze had spoken. Blaze knew something had been wrong when Daniel had tried to possess him earlier, so despite Dan's protests Blaze had tucked him in and it was barely nine o'clock.

"It's when two or more YouTubers get together to make a video," Dan answered, sitting upright despite Blaze's glare. "Why?"

"Someone called Jack wants to collab with us," Blaze responded, showing Dan the phone screen. Dan peered cautiously at it.

"Damn,  _the_  Jacksepticeye wants to collaborate with us?" Dan muttered. "Why is he even in town, he lives in Brighton..."

"I don't know, maybe he's visiting family?" Blaze suggested. Something about the name rang a bell, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"He's Irish, you nitwit," Dan teased. "Also- it's well after evening. It seems a bit odd to ask to collab at this time."

"Maybe sleep is for the weak," Blaze commented.

"Fuck off," Dan sighed, taking the phone. "I don't know how safe it is to collab when you're... you. You know?"

Blaze grinned. "Are you embarrassed of me now, Danny boy?"

"No, no, it's just... performing is one thing. But we know Jack, and he'll be sure to know something's up. No offense, but you're nothing like Phil."

"I'm glad," Blaze shrugged. "Why don't you invite him over to collab with you, then? Say Phil's sick, or something."

Dan shook his head. "We're still on tour, remember? We've got to get to Liverpool tomorrow for two separate shows, and then we're going to stay in Manchester, we really don't have the time to make our own videos, let alone collab..."

Blaze sighed. "Okay, just trying to alleviate your stress,"

Dan snorted. "Jacksepticeye is the person you'd call when you want stress," he said, quickly typing out an apologetic message to the Irish YouTuber.

Within seconds, there was a response.

**Jack: That's too bad, maybe I'll catch up with you after your show?**

_**"He seems suspicious,"**_ Daniel mused within Dan's head.

"A bit, yeah," Dan responded. Blaze raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Daniel," Dan answered. "He says that it's suspicious."

"I thought you were friends with the guy?" Blaze asked.

"Not, like,  _good_ friends," Dan explained. "He's a gamer, Phil and I aren't. We have different subscribers, different styles. Different friends. We don't talk much."

"Then I suppose it is suspicious," Blaze admitted.

 _ **"Finally using his brain,"**  _Daniel snickered.

"You know, keep on teasing him and I might have to assume you  _like_  him," Dan muttered so that Blaze couldn't hear.

 _"_ ** _Then you'd finally be using_ your  _brain,"_**  Daniel replied.

"So, should we meet with him?" Blaze asked.

Dan sighed heavily. "I... I don't see why not, if he's going to be at the show anyway..."

Something within Dan knew it would end badly. He just didn't know what.

**~Void~**

"How did you get him out of his room?" One of Mark's egos asked Phil in awe. He was wearing a king's crown and robe, with peanut butter spread across his face to emulate a beard. Phil had no idea who it was or what had inspired him, but he felt inclined to answer anyway.

"He just needed someone to talk to, someone who understood what he was going through," Phil explained. "I'm Phil, I don't think I've met you."

"Oh, I'm King of the Squirrels," the man said, shaking Phil's hand.

 _That didn't answer any of my questions..._ Phil thought as the man walked over to congratulate Septiplier on his birthday. The fusion was close to tears as the living area was filled with various members of Mark and Jack's ego families. Phil was ashamed to say he didn't recognise most of them.

"I must say, you've done extremely well to repress his depressive behaviours," came a voice from behind him. Phil turned to see that it was Dr. Iplier, the strange version of Mark that claimed he knew medical procedures.

"Oh, hi Doc," Phil said. On the doctor's arm was another ego, one of Jack's, it seemed. He wore a mask and gloves, and hummed as he inspected Phil closely.

"Zis is quite a lively specimen," he observed. Phil was taken aback at his apparent German accent. "Yes, Dr. Iplier. I think zat zis one is a human,"

"We've been over this, Henrik," Dr. Iplier said, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry about him, he's got a creepy doctor complex."

Phil nodded wordlessly as the two doctors wandered off, sighing as he approached the only other faces he felt comfortable around. Dark and Wilford, who were engaged in some kind of conversation. Wilford was the first to notice him, a grin splitting across his features.

"Ah, Phil! I suppose that's short for Phillip, isn't it? You don't mind if I call you Phillip?"

Phil didn't like the way the man's gun moved so carelessly through the air. He nodded hastily.

"Yes, I must congratulate you on bringing Septiplier out of his room," Dark mused. "Poor man hasn't been out here since 2016. I'd pry, but... I suppose some things are best left forgotten..."

Phil shrugged. "It's not that he wants to forget, per se, but rather that he's uncomfortable with his own existence... I just helped him see the bigger picture, that's all..."

Dark smiled. "I can see why Daniel fell for you."

Phil flushed, not quite knowing how to respond. He'd suspected for some time now that the demon he'd been around harboured feelings for him, but it just seemed too egotistical to admit out loud.

"I... He... What?" Phil found himself gasping.

"Don't worry, he's moved on now," Dark sighed, clapping Phil on the back. "I had my doubts, I'll admit. When he came to me for advice, I thought he was mad. A demon falling in love with a human? Revoking their ways for a being who would never know they existed? Surely Daniel knew better... but now, having met you, I can see what he saw. You are truly special, Phil. Your radiance and positivity is something I think we all need once in a while."

Phil didn't know whether to be flattered or alarmed.

"With the amount of control you have over this place, I assumed you wouldn't be so lenient," Phil answered truthfully. Dark smiled sadly, pulling Phil closer to him so that Wilford wouldn't hear them.

"I was once young, Phil," he said. "Young and foolish. Since then, I've seen things no man or woman should ever have to see, being saddled with a negative energy greater than I could handle... it brings me joy to know that others don't have to suffer the same fate,"

He pulled away, and the deafening laughter and joy of the party returned. Surely it hadn't been this crowded in here before? Phil could see the egos all chatting, dancing around, having a nice time. Septiplier was crying happy tears from all four of his eyes, throwing his presents aside as he hugged the Jim brothers with his extra arms.

Phil smiled. He'd improved someone's day, and although he knew he helped hundreds of fans, nothing could quite compare to seeing it in person.

**~Groundlands~**

Anti hummed to himself, twirling the knife he'd stolen from Jack's kitchen in his hands. He'd gotten off the train at midnight give or take, and he was now strolling the dark alleys in the dingiest part of Liverpool he could find. Far away from busy roads or bustling pubs, he angrily drove his knife across the palm of his hand.

Feeling the blood rush from his already dead body brought a grin to his lips as Anti cackled, slicing again and again, relishing in the pain he knew Jack would feel when he was revived. He wiped his bloodied hand on his jeans, momentarily satisfied. It was a bad habit, he knew, but since he could remember it was the best way to deal with any feelings of regret or anxiety. Anti loved the feeling of the metal against his skin, but it was even better without Jack's useless body to shield the pain.

No matter. It was time to wait for Dan and Blaze to arrive in Liverpool. Anti only hoped that they'd contact him before their show, so he could wipe the smile from the fire ego's face.

Anti could remember when nobody in the void cared for him. When he was an outcast, judged, clueless about who he should be. When even Dark, who had been the first to greet him, went silent, and there was nobody left to look out for him. It was horrible. He'd taken his knife upon himself again and again, until one day it had taken not Anti, but Jack. Anti had stepped into the human's body, feeling as if he finally had a purpose. His hair turned green and the scar he made never faded from his image.

Since then, the fans had taken control of his character. Made him meaner, sharper, but that was okay with Anti. He finally had power, recognition, purpose. Everything that had separated him from the other egos and more.

But they didn't see it that way. No, he was still a monster in their eyes. It wasn't until someone else came along feeling exactly as he had, that Anti began to have hope. Blaze, knowing nothing but his name, arriving in the void so clueless about who he was meant to be.

Anti had hoped to befriend him, and for a while, he did. They grew close, but yet... Blaze grew closer with another. Daniel. The demon was a friend of Dark's, undoubtedly biased against him. He took Blaze away, but Blaze still promised he would always talk to Anti and remember their friendship.

Anti found himself snapping fallen branches in two just thinking about it. Despite what Blaze had said, the ego hadn't spoken to Anti in what felt like several months. Getting closer to Daniel, falling for him, these were signs that Anti recognised well. He knew he wouldn't get Blaze back. But still, it  _hurt._ And unlike the pain brought by his knife, these wounds weren't going to heal any time soon...

 _How come he gets to have e͝ve̵ry̸thing? We were the same. We_ a͚͓͟ͅr̶͉͔̩̘̗̫͚ͅe̵͇͈͠ _the same. We're both clueless about our purpose, both hopelessly in love with demons who will never know emotion like we do, but... still, we both persevere. We both possess bodies that aren't our own, trying to discover who we are. But everyone loves him, and throws me away?... n̵̡͙͕̝̖͙̤o̯͔̼̮̦͖̣̹̲͡t̛̲̙͉̲͜ ͏̺̳̺̣̱͓̣͡ͅa̢͙̲̻n͈̩̠͚͝͡y͏͕͙͎ͅm̹̟̯̪o̧͓̹͚͈̘̟̕ͅr̭̱e̡͎͕͔͟͝..._

Anti drew his knife and began to slice his opposite palm. Tonight, he really needed some extra distraction.


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Void~**

"Phil?"

Phil turned around, only to find himself being crushed in a familiar four-armed embrace. He couldn't help but laugh as he hugged back, thinking about how strange it felt to be held like this. It was comforting, though, so Phil didn't really mind. After a few moments, Septiplier pulled away.

His hair was fluffy and bright, eyes sparkling, smile wider than Phil had seen it go in the short time he'd been here.

"I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me," the fusion smiled. The party had died down, and the wild screams of the egos had turned into mindless chatter as the house's occupants grew steadily more intoxicated. Phil could see Wilford handing out several drinks to Jack's egos, and the sounds of unintelligible Irish exclamations filled the room.

"It was no problem, really," Phil responded modestly. "I love helping people through the hard times in their life, I'm glad you're having a good time."

Septiplier laughed genuinely, causing even Dark to smile fondly. The sound echoed through the room, bringing cheers to the other egos as they laughed with him. Phil couldn't quite believe his ears- after all, these egos all shared very similar voices.

"This was the best birthday I've ever had!" Septiplier exclaimed. "If only everyone could make it..."

"You mean there are more of you?" Phil asked in wonder. The room had already seemed full of egos, but how many did Mark and Jack really have?

"Bim Trimmer and Silver Shephard couldn't make it," Dark sighed. "They've been feeling ill lately, not enough people in the Groundlands thinking of them to sustain their lifestyle. We aren't all what we used to be, you know?"

"Yeah, I know..." Septiplier said sadly. "You, me and Anti are the biggest, aren't we?"

Dark nodded. "Yes, most people are unaware of the others, in fact."

"Anti?" Phil asked. "Jack's alter ego?"

He remembered watching the collaboration when it had finally been released- Jack's ego and Mark's ego were fighting about something Phil couldn't quite recall, but he did remember the glitchy, green appearance of Antisepticeye. The ego had reminded him a little of the Joker.

"Seán has many alter egos," Dark advised, "but this one is best left unnamed. He's quite... troublesome, if you summon him."

Septiplier shuddered. "I miss him, but... knowing what he tried to do..."

"What?" Phil asked, feeling extremely out of the loop. "What did he do?"

Dark locked eyes with Phil. "He attempted to capture and kill the rest of Seán's egos out of pure spite and vengeance."

Phil covered his mouth in shock. "Why would he do that?"

Dark shook his head, and Phil could see Septiplier on the brink of tears. Oh  _no._ Phil didn't want to cause anybody pain- his habits of asking sensitive questions seemed to get worse every day.

"That's a tale for another time, tonight is for festivities. I do believe Google and Bing have prepared a cake for you," Dark told Septiplier, who looked over to see the two androids bringing in a slightly slanted tower of cake. The rest of the egos cheered, beginning to clap in time to a song.

"Go on, you've earned it," Phil smiled at Septiplier, who hugged him once more before walking over. Several egos including a green haired superhero and a dapper looking man clapped him on the back as he blew out his candles.

"I'm eating for two!" the fusion called, causing the other egos to snigger and chuckle at his antics.

"I would like to tell you more, Phil," Dark said, bringing Phil away from the happiness and back into the air of secrecy they had established. "I really would, but... it's best for all of us if he doesn't know we're here tonight."

Phil gulped and nodded, remembering Daniel's face when they'd passed Dark earlier. Who else's lightning could it have been? But then, who he was fighting... he recalled what Daniel had told him about love and lust among the egos. About how the two that were battling had a lot of tension... were Dark and Anti...?

"You were fighting him earlier, weren't you?" Phil asked quietly. Dark raised an eyebrow at him, making sure nobody else could hear before he leaned in closer.

"Yes," he said simply.

Phil opened his mouth to speak, but Dark shook his head. Phil could see something akin to pain in the demon's eyes as his red aura grew to dominate his body. Phil hadn't noticed just how blue the figure had been shining until now. It seemed that red was anger, and blue was happiness, but Phil suspected these colours ran a lot deeper than representing a simple emotional state.

"Not here. Never in front of them."

Phil followed Dark's gaze and found himself looking at the party once more. The superhero and a magician with a mask were having a conversation with Dr. Iplier, who seemed insistent that they were dying. Drunken Irish slander bounced around the room, from ego to ego, and Phil found himself wondering who had produced the alcohol in the first place. Wilford? It made sense, considering the trigger happy man was the one handing the stuff out, but only the green headed men were drinking.

"... None of Mark's egos are drinking?" Phil asked, trying to break from the awkward topic he'd breached. He couldn't help but feel as though he'd crossed a line with Dark, and he didn't want things to end badly tonight, if he could help it. He'd already caused enough grief with his stubbornness, after all.

Dark hummed softly. "Mark can't have alcohol."

Phil supposed that explained it. But Dark had been sipping a glass of white wine for the last ten minutes, and Wilford was doing shots on the bar- just how different were they from Mark's other egos?

"Wilford was once a human," Dark said, finishing his glass. Phil had to wonder if the demon could read minds. "As was I. We were lost souls, brought to life again by Mark and his subscribers. We're just as much egos as the rest of them, but we were never truly part of him."

Phil nodded, trying to comprehend what he'd heard. It still didn't make much sense. Wilford and Darkiplier were dead, or something? Then Mark brought them back to life?

"Don't strain yourself," Dark urged. "The night is young. Enjoy yourself, get your mind off the tour. I promise it will be sorted soon, and you'll be back in the Groundlands in no time."

Phil nodded, though he found it hard to enjoy social situations in the best of circumstances. With all the information he'd been dumped with today, his mind was whirring. He was in a room full of carbon copies of Mark and Jack, and he wasn't even close enough to the original ones to start a conversation with them.

But Phil knew he'd wasted enough of the demon's time. Daniel had kept his patience with him, but then, Daniel had known Phil for a long time. Dark? Dark wouldn't understand him the way Daniel did. Phil could appreciate that once personal questions started coming up, any conversation could get awkward.

After glancing once more at the seemingly tired demon, Phil decided to talk to Septiplier. He made his way around the staggering egos, tapping the fusion on his forearm- that was as high as Phil could reach.

"I kinda feel bad, I don't have a present for you," Phil said, and the fusion grinned down at him in return.

"You being here is the best gift I could ask for," Septiplier sniffed. "All of you. I can't thank you enough for coming..."

The fusion pulled Phil, as well as the three closest egos into a monster hug, and Phil felt laughter bubbling in his stomach.

He could forget about the tour. About Dan, and Blaze, and even about the curious relationship he'd uncovered between Dark and Anti. For once, he could let go of responsibility and have fun.

Phil accepted the glass of alcohol that Wilford then handed to him, deciding to kick back. Daniel had the situation under control, right? Tonight, just tonight, Phil decided to believe it.

Dark hummed to himself, trying not to look worried as he gazed out of the nearest window. He had been nervous all night, though he kept it hidden from the others. As a former politician, he knew how important it was to keep up appearances.

"You're worried,"

Dark whipped around, seeing Wilford standing against the wall next to him. Dark sighed, clutching his cane once more.

"Will, don't sneak up on me like that..."

Wilford smirked, handing Dark a glass of wine that the demon accepted, if a little hesitantly.

"I shouldn't," Dark said as he sipped the wine carefully. "I have a duty to them, you know?"

"Oh, Dark..." Wilford laughed, wrapping an arm around the body of one of his closest friends. "You remind me of someone, you know?"

Dark tried to smile, he really did, but he knew what was coming. He let Wilford speak, holding back tears as he relived his own painful memories of who he had once been.

"My dear friend Damien, that's who!" Wilford chortled. "So serious, all the time! Why, I thought I'd seen the last of his wild adventures back in university, but I seem to recall him doing a keg stand at a party recently! Can you believe it, Dark? Now I know you're all formal, but if you'd just let yourself go..."

Dark's eyes widened with worry as Wilford trailed off, looking down. Biting his lip, Dark brought the liquor Wilford had been drinking back up to the man's lips, hoping that while drunk, he'd forget.

"Come now, Will," Dark whispered, not trusting himself to speak. "I need to be alert. You know as well as I that there's more danger tonight than usual."

Wilford had snapped out of it, causing Dark to let out a sigh of relief. The man was serious, but at least now he wasn't so close to breaking again.

"You two can't keep fighting forever," Wilford advised. He tipped back his bottle and drank some more, while Dark stiffened slightly.

The demon's eyes met Wilford's in sadness that wasn't caught by the deranged journalist.

"When you love someone, and they end up broken, and you don't know what to say..." Dark trailed off, breaths shuddering as he tried to explain what he was feeling. "And you let them live in anguish, because you know if you tell them the truth it will end in more tears... you have nothing to do but fight."

Dark walked away, hiding his tears from the mindless personalities that occupied the room. His reflection stared back at him from the window, as the void remained dark and undisturbed outside. Two figures, a man and a woman, stared back at him sadly.

_CRACK!_

Dark's chest heaved as he felt his skin split open, shards of glass falling from the window frame onto his arms. He smiled at the bittersweet pain, tears mingling with his own blood as he laughed softly.

He'd finally gone mad, hadn't he?

"I'm sorry," Dark smiled, though he couldn't tell who he was apologising to.

**~Groundlands~**

Dan was breathing heavily as he sat alongside Blaze in the taxi. They'd left their old hotel slightly scorched and very warm, and Dan hoped they wouldn't recieve angry calls from the management once they were in Liverpool. It wasn't like Blaze could help it, but they couldn't really explain that to any normal person, could they?

It was 10:05, and Dan was overdue for his pills.

They were like birth control. If you missed them by like, an hour, your entire day could turn around- and not in a good way. Dan felt uncomfortable, extremely uncomfortable while he was just sitting here, letting his systems down. He didn't quite feel any effects yet, but he knew the low was coming, just like it had during that week in March.

_**"Relax,"** _

"Easy for you to say," Dan muttered, hoping the taxi driver couldn't hear him talking to himself. 

"Are you excited?" Blaze asked, fidgeting with his seatbelt. The ego was very uncomfortable wearing so many clothes, but Dan had insisted. You can't just walk around topless- people stare, and the two internet personalities definitely didn't need any extra attention.

"Sure," Dan replied. "Mainly nervous, considering I haven't skipped my meds in a year, but I suppose I can look past it."

_**"Oh, brighten up,"** _

"Hm?" Blaze said. Dan looked up in confusion.

"I- I didn't say anything?"

"Yes you did," Blaze said slowly. "You told me to brighten up- horrible pun, by the way."

Dan blinked. "No, that was... shit, that was out loud? That wasn't me, it was Daniel."

_**"Blaze, can you hear me?"** _

Blaze smiled, fire shining in his eyes. Dan couldn't issue a warning- his mouth was sealed shut. He could only widen his eyes in warning as Blaze reached over to touch his hand.

Tears welled in Dan's eyes at the intense heat, leaving raw pink marks wherever Blaze touched. They trailed down his face as his mouth moved, but the words weren't his.

_**"I missed you."** _

"I missed you more," Blaze sighed. "It's so good to hear you again."

_**"Well if you hadn't just randomly left..."** _

"I... I only wanted to show you that I was just as good as everyone else..."

Blaze went quiet. His hands left Dan's, and Dan found himself able to breathe again. He opened his mouth again, just to check if it was really him in control again. Once he was assured, he growled under his breath.

"Don't do that," he huffed. "Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to watch someone else take control of your body?"

 ** _"Sorry,"_  **Daniel said, and though Dan couldn't see the demon he knew it was sarcasm.

Blaze looked sheepish. "Is that what I'm meant to do? When possessing Phil?"

_**"Yes, you're meant to keep them inside their body while you take control."** _

"Yes," Dan translated shortly. He couldn't help but feel betrayed.

_**"You know, this would be a lot easier if you'd let me speak through you."** _

"Shut up," Dan responded. "I'm in charge here, it's my body. If you aren't going to wait until a more appropriate time to pull this possession shit, it's not too late for the pills."

There were a few moments of silence. Blaze looked out of the window, decidedly choosing not to engage the already angered human beside him. 

Dan was stubbornly staring straight ahead, trying to block out the voice that he knew spoke the truth.

_**"You're only making this harder for Phil to come back, you realise this, don't you?"** _

Dan gritted his teeth, checking the time. 

10:15

_We've got a long way to go..._


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

***UPDATED 29/12/18***

**~Groundlands~**

Anti had been waiting outside for hours, face obscured to hide his piercing eyes from anyone who might recognise him. This needed to be quick and inconspicuous, and if fans were going to spread the word about how Jack was at Interactive Introverts, Anti knew it wouldn't go well. Especially if he ended up killing one more traitorous lump than necessary today.

Some people had been here since before he arrived at the scene, walking, staggering into view. The sack of meat called a body he had to wear in this world was so draining- Anti would much prefer being free to walk around as himself, but he'd already tried time and time again.

It was impossible.

There was a time when Anti had thought that possession was impossible too, but here he was.

Some of the fans wore cat whiskers, drawn with permanent marker. Anti found it ridiculous. Others sported old band shirts and skinny jeans, and as more arrived, Anti found himself losing track. He stood out quite a bit, and he could even see some people regarding him with fear in their eyes.

He smirked. Fear was much better than anger, in his opinion.

The sun was high and the buildings cast shadows as the day progressed. When was the show going to start? Anti had purchased tickets with the last of Jack's money, and he honestly didn't really care how the human was going to get home after this. He only cared that Jack would soon begin to fight for control of his body again, and Anti  _would not_  allow Blaze to go free without some understanding of the glitch's pain.

"Don't get me wrong, buddy, you can keep it," Anti mumbled, picking at the scabs of the wounds he'd made yesterday. He just had to wait until Blaze showed his face again. Then, he'd go. He'd leave Jack to deal with the mess he started by rejecting Anti as his ego.

 _You c͡an ͠g҉lad̷l͟y ҉keep it_ , Anti mused, kicking away a stray rock.  _All ͘y͘ou e̡v̢er̵ do͏ i͡s̕ ͘hold ͜me͟ do̡wn._

**~Void~**

Phil blinked wearily, feeling as though he should probably be hungover after last night. He'd lost track of just how many drinks he'd had, but he felt just the same as he had the morning before, and the morning before that, and before that... well, his head did. His eyes seemed to be hurt in some way, and he could feel fluid leaking from them as he shuffled around under strange covers.

"Ah, you're awake," mused a voice.

"Morning," Phil agreed, sitting up. He was in a bed in an unfamiliar room, but the walls were familiar enough to him. He was still in Darkiplier manor- he must have passed out last night at the party.

"It was good to see you letting go for once,"

Phil faced Darkiplier, rubbing at his weary eyes. Too late, he realised he'd slept with his contacts in.

"Shit," Phil breathed, hastily removing them. No wonder his eyes felt so sore...

Dark raised an eyebrow. "You wear contact lenses?"

"Yeah," Phil sighed, rubbing delicately at his eyes. "I... I can't see anything."

Dark chuckled, the sound echoing across the room. But even through the laughter, Phil could hear how strained the demon was.

What had happened last night?

"I'll be in touch with our resident doctor, he'll sort you out. After that, I'd like you to accompany me on a walk, if you'd be so inclined?"

Phil blinked a few times, letting his blurry vision adjust to his surroundings. God, he hated being unable to see.

"Sounds great," Phil affirmed.

Dark smiled, shining a soft blue as he exited the room. Phil could hear his footsteps as they dissipated.

Phil placed his soaked contacts on the table beside his bed, groaning aloud. How could he have forgotten to take them out? Then again, he hadn't really slept during his stay here... perhaps he'd forgotten he even had them.

"Look at me," Phil sighed to himself. "Without Dan telling me what I need to do, I get drunk with a bunch of the same person and sleep with my contacts in... I really can't be left alone, can I?"

Phil tried to examine some paintings on the wall, but they were incomprehensible splashes of colour to him in his state. Even when he stood, he could feel the blood rush from his head and he stumbled, almost knocking over the clock that stood beside his bed. Even before the collision, it hadn't ticked.

There was a sharp rap on the door.

"Come in!" Phil called, sitting on the bed before he fell over again. He should have known better than to stand so soon after waking up, but this morning he felt more than a little out of sorts.

Dr. Iplier opened the door, smiling at Phil knowingly. "How did you find the party?"

"I thought I got a lot more wasted than I did," Phil said truthfully.

The doctor smirked. "Trust me, you did. But seeing as our dear friend Wilford had produced the liquor, it all dissipated when he fell asleep this morning. You should be feeling no ill effects from it."

"Wow, if only real alcohol worked like that..." Phil mused.

"Indeed," Dr. Iplier agreed. "Dark told me you'll be needing contact lenses?"

Phil shuddered at the thought of putting anything onto his eyes ever again. "Glasses, if you have them... my eyes are a bit sensitive."

"Not to worry, not to worry," the doctor said, handing Phil a bottle of eye drops. "Three drops in each, should fight any infection. Now, let's see... I don't suppose you can remember your prescription?"

Phil shook his head, still in amazement at how quickly the doctor had reacted to his problem. He used the drops quickly, ignoring the temporary burning sensation that flooded his eye sockets.

"Right... well, it'll only take a little longer to test you. Come, follow me to my office. I'll fix you up in no time."

Phil followed the blue of the doctor's coat, considering his eyes didn't really allow him to see much else. It was the easiest thing to follow, considering the halls of this manor were all dark in colour. Up a flight of stairs and to the left, and Phil found himself sitting in a comfortable plush chair.

The office was nice and spacious. Several machines lined the walls, and Phil could even see an X-Ray device sectioned off opposite him. Elaborate diagrams of the human body plastered the walls, all looking like scrambled messages to Phil, and a mannequin seemed to be propped up on the sofa.

Wait... not a mannequin. Phil recognised him. It was the other doctor from the party last night- Henry, or whatever. Phil hadn't caught his full name. Either way, the green haired man was sleeping soundly, a blanket thrown over him. He might have been unable to see, but he could have sworn Dr. Iplier flushed as Phil noticed him.

Neither of them said a word.

Dr. Iplier wheeled a device over. It seemed like exactly the thing that was used to test eyes in the real world.

 _Perhaps I underestimated him,_ Phil thought to himself.  _Maybe he is a real doctor after all..._

Phil did the test as best as he could, and after a few slides, the doctor switched the machine off. He stared at Phil's features for a few moments, before shrugging and pulling a pair of frames from a drawer.

"Here," he said, placing the glasses on Phil's face. To the human's astonishment, he found he could see clearly.

"So... did you imagine these into existence, then?" Phil asked, looking the lenses over. They looked quite cool, if he said so himself.

"Yes," the doctor affirmed. "Can you tell me the letters on the bottom row?"

Phil rattled off the letters, and the doctor's smile widened.

"Amazing... first time I've tried that, between you and me. There never seems to be anything bothering people here in the void. Nobody ever visits me for checkups..."

Phil grinned, walking forward. "They don't know what they're missing, Doc."

The doctor beamed. "Right, well, Dark requested that you meet him outside. Are you sure you're not feeling ill, or otherwise incapacitated and requiring medical assistance?"

"I'm fine," Phil answered. "But you know who I'd call if I wasn't."

Dr. Iplier winked as Phil left, wondering why the two doctors had bunked together. Well, of course he had a few ideas, but he pushed them aside. Not everyone in this void could be homosexual... right?

Phil shook his head. There were other things to be concerned about, after all. Like why Dark wanted to walk with him, for one. There wasn't much to see, he would know. When walking with Daniel he'd wanted to gouge out his eyes from boredom. The demon just wasn't much for conversation.

 _Dan would've complained about everything_ , Phil smiled. He hadn't noticed until now just how much he'd missed his other half. Sure, Daniel was like him, but... he was different, too. Scarily distant, cold, an embodiment of Dan's worst habits. Phil liked the Dan that would laugh at his jokes, the Dan that would sigh in exasperation whenever Phil messed up while recording but would still be with him at the end of the day because they were the best of friends.

He felt homesick.

Phil could see Darkiplier awaiting him outside, and took a deep breath. It wouldn't be long before everything was back to normal again. He just had to stay calm and work through it.

With a slightly fake smile plastered on his face, Phil greeted the demon for the second time today. It didn't go unnoticed that neither had been cheerful before Phil had come through the door.

**~Groundlands~**

"Big crowd today," Dan noted, silently urging his nerves to calm down.

Blaze was silent, picking mindlessly at his fingernails. Dan couldn't help but feel as though the ego was ignoring him on purpose- ever since this morning, when Daniel had possessed him, Dan had the sinking feeling that Blaze didn't care for him at all. That this, their conversations, were all just so the two egos could reconcile. That this was the only reason that he'd even pretended to be friends. It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did.

But damn, Dan wanted to cry. He didn't know if it was because he'd missed his pills. If it was because of the otherworldly possession mayhem that was happening, if it was because it just hit him that his best friend was alone in an endless void and had been gone for the better part of the week. If it was because he felt guilty for replacing Phil so easily with this flaming jerk and then having the gall to be upset when he realised it was all for nothing.

_**"What are you doing? You're going on stage in a few hours, stop crying."** _

"Like you care," Dan muttered. He felt spiteful, and petty, and for once he felt justified. He'd dealt with the majority of this tour alone so far, and he really just wanted things to go back to normal. He wanted to be rid of the egos, with their cryptic words and their twisted voices, sounding so similar but yet so different to the sounds he knew.

 _ **"If you want Blaze gone, let me take over,"**_  Daniel urged.  _ **"You're hopeless at translating. If I'm in control, I can show him how to get home. You want that, don't you?"**_

Dan sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair. They'd arrived early and they weren't set to perform until the afternoon, surely letting Daniel in now wouldn't be too harmful...

"The second someone else comes in here, you let go and I take control," Dan proposed. He didn't receive a response, but felt an internal force begin to move around inside him. His eyes closed, and when they opened again, Dan could see they had become black in his reflection in the mirror. Small pinpricks of light shone from them.

Dan felt unsettled by the grin that spread across his face, knowing all too well that he was no longer the one in control.

**~Void~**

"That was fast," Dark commented as Phil stepped outside.

"The doctor really knows his stuff," Phil responded sheepishly. "You... you wanted to talk to me?"

"Not here," Dark replied, inclining his head to the east. "I'm afraid I've become saddled with many responsibilities as the voice of order in this realm, and one of them is to bring peace to the residents of this expansive void. Each morning I walk a path that winds past the homes of other egos, ensuring that nobody seriously hurts anyone else. After the incident with my old friend and his brethren, one can never be too careful..."

Phil swallowed. He'd been curious about Dark's relationship with Anti, considering the demon spoke of him as if he wasn't the deranged psychopath his words described him to be. Everything he'd heard about the rogue ego had been negative, so why did Dark seem to have a pang of emotion in his voice when he spoke of him?

"Please, Phil. We're away from sensitive souls, and if you want to ask me something, I'm all ears. The answer might not be what you want to hear, however."

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Phil was increasingly aware of the warmth that spread across him with each wave of oxygen the demon summoned. Daniel had summoned cool air, air that matched his cold attitude. Phil found he liked Dark's much more.

Phil bit his lip as they passed some English style cottages. Dark's careful eyes scanned over them, and Phil wondered who lived there. More demons? More egos? Perhaps there were other beings that inhabited this space as well...

"Why did Anti try to kill them?" Phil blurted out, unable to contain his question any longer. Dark stopped, looking down at his cane. He was blue, bright blue, yet this time Phil could have sworn he wasn't happy, but sad.

"Jealousy," Dark answered. "Anti... never felt like he belonged here among us. Unfortunately, some others shared the same sentiments. Things got out of hand. People were hurt, and I had to sever what was left of the weak bond that we still had left. He was under the impression that violence was the only way to get justice... another misguided soul, manipulated by forces beyond his control..."

Phil cautiously placed a hand on Dark's shoulder, intending to be comforting. A single tear slipped from the demon's tired eyes.

"May I confide in you, Phil?" the demon whispered.

"Of course," Phil answered, hoping to soothe the distraught being before him. Dark took a few breaths to establish himself once more, before meeting Phil's eyes.

Phil was astounded to see that the demon's eyes were crystal blue.

"I've made many mistakes," Dark began. "Over the course of my existence, I've hardly been a saint. I've practiced the dark arts. I've slept with a man outside of marriage, repeatedly. I've driven people to suicide again and again, because of how selfish I was to deceive them. I've allowed the dark force that now inhabits this form to escape and flourish from its prison. I've plotted murder. I've manipulated. I've tortured."

Each time Dark finished a sentence, Phil felt a blow to his stomach. Action after action, pain after pain. It was as if he was empathically feeling Dark's emotional anguish come to light. Despite how uncomfortably sore Phil was becoming, he never broke eye contact with the now crying man before him. If Phil was anything, he was determined.

"And now I watch that man, every day as he fails to remember me for who I once was," Dark muttered bitterly. "He fails to remember  _us_. And yet, I don't tell him. I don't tell him, because he'll break again, and I can't do that to him after everything I've already put him through..."

Phil didn't have the chance to speak. But he was happy to be here, even just as an emotional outlet. Dark seemed to have a lot of problems he'd been unable to talk about before, and it was good to let them all out before something bad happened.

Phil had firsthand experience on that matter.

"And Anti? I was close to him, and I abandoned him. After what he did, I wasn't there when he needed my company the most. The way he is now? It's because of me. It's because I care too much to save them from themselves, so I let them destroy their minds with self loathing..."

Dark collapsed on the ground, clutching his cane as if his life depended on it. Phil had never seen a man look so broken down. Phil crouched, still holding Dark's shoulder reassuringly. No matter what, Phil would always try to help others in need.

"Pathetic excuse, isn't it?" Dark uttered, blinking away tears.

"No," Phil denied. "It isn't. You're very emotional, but you're also very rational. You do what you think is right, at the expense of others' feelings being hurt. You aren't better or worse because of it."

Dark tittered, wiping away the tears from his face. "If only you knew, Phil... If only you knew what I was really capable of..."

"I know you're capable of love," Phil interjected. "Daniel told me it was just lust, but it isn't... the way you speak about them. I can tell. You care about them so much that it hurts you..."

"I do," Dark responded, sighing as he got to his feet again. "I do care, too much..."

He shook himself slightly, cracking his neck as his aura began to shift from the familiar bright blue to a deep, troubled red.

"I've kept you with my nonsense for too long," Dark muttered. "Come. We should return to the manor before the others awaken."

Phil knew the demon was still aching. It practically rolled from him in waves, coursing through Phil like tides of guilt in his veins. But he also knew that pushing him wouldn't help him to heal. Similarly to Dan, Dark had to let go of his troubles slowly or not at all.

Phil felt he was possibly the only other person here who understood.

They were about to head back when a chilling, dark mist oozed into their way. Phil stepped back in shock, but Dark's eyes widened as he regarded the figure forming from the mass. Blood dripped from wounds that were invisible behind the shroud of darkness, but Phil would recognise those pinpricks of light anywhere.

"Daniel?" Phil whispered.

 **"He's got them..."**  the demon gasped, falling onto the ground.

"He's in the Groundlands?" Dark exclaimed, holding what Phil assumed to be Daniel's hand.

 **"Please, he's too weak to handle him on his own..."**  Daniel mumbled feebly.

Phil couldn't help but feel forgotten and left out, but he was still reeling. Who had them? Who  _was_ 'them'? The combinations coming to mind weren't positive, and the looks on the demons' faces were doing nothing to help soothe his fears.

"Where?" Dark commanded.  **"Daniel, stay with me! Where were you? Where is he?!"**

 **"I'll show you,"**  Daniel spoke, and before Phil knew it the two demons were gone. The world began to dissipate around him, the cobbled path he'd once walked with Dark now nonexistent, and the lights of the manor barely visible in the distance. The ginormous building wavered like a mirage until it too vanished, leaving an assortment of confused and disturbed egos behind.

Phil was about to run to them, but found himself unable to move. His lungs felt like bursting, his chest heaving to find air that simply wasn't present.

His eyes widened. Was this his end? Slow, agonisingly painful... Phil keeled over as he felt his systems shut down, his body spasming and jerking against his will as he tried to cry out, but no sound emerged.

He stilled. A shallow breath emanated from his open lips as his eyelids instinctively opened and his heartbeat stopped.

_Too late..._


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

***UPDATED 29/12/18***

**~Groundlands~**

_**"Okay, now concentrate on our home. Our place, with those columns and windows you love, remember?"** _

Daniel and Blaze had been at it for about an hour now, and Dan was feeling a little ill. He supposed having someone take control of your body could leave you very shocked and unstable- yes, that sounded like a good description. Blaze was acting... different. More compliant. Less likely to combust, despite the rising temperature in the room.

Blaze, the ego who had outright refused to learn the script- who had refused to do pretty much everything Dan had told him to- never questioning Daniel or his motives?  _Huh, rich..._

 _Is it just me?_ Dan wondered.  _Come to think of it, Phil is quite stubborn as well..._

Dan sorely missed Phil. Before this experience, he thought Phil was the most spontaneous and unpredictable person he knew, but now...

Dan sighed internally, as Daniel continued to use his mouth to speak. It wasn't the feeling of being forced, which made the sensation all the more strange to him. Naturally moving his lips and tongue, feeling as they always did, but being unable to know which words were coming until they were said.

Blaze's face scrunched up in concentration, his hand trembling as flames danced across his fingertips. Dan couldn't help but notice that Daniel spent an awful lot of time staring at the ego's face, his features, the curve of his lips as he did Phil's weird tongue thing. Dan was slightly uncomfortable. He'd never examined Phil this closely before, and even though it was technically Blaze, it was still Phil's body, and he still had boundaries he didn't want to cross.

"I... It's not working," Blaze muttered in frustration. "It's like it wants to come into existence around me, but I can't make it appear."

 _ **"You're trying to bring home to you,"**_  Daniel explained.  _ **"That's not what we want. Imagine yourself letting go of this body, transcending the physical."**_

Blaze squinted again, and Dan could feel himself begin to hum under his breath. But it wasn't him. It was Daniel. Dan didn't know how much control he still had, and he wasn't about to try anything lest he mess something up, but the entire situation was still very disconcerting to him. The tune was unfamiliar.

"How do you do it?" Blaze asked.

 ** _"I think of the blank expanse,"_  **Daniel said.  _ **"The darkness that envelopes every corner. Then, I think of the light you bring and I'm home."**  
_

Blaze flushed, and Dan found he didn't possess enough control over himself to roll his eyes. Good to know that involuntary cringes wouldn't trigger the demon to leave...

"You think of  _me_?" Blaze asked as if he didn't believe it.

Daniel chuckled.  _ **"Of course, you twit, who else would I think of?"**_

"So I should think of you..." Blaze said trailing off. He closed his eyes, hand trembling once more. "Think of you... when don't I think of you, though? You're all I've ever known... when I think of home, I think of spending time with you."

 _ **"Yes, Blaze, keep going,"**_  Daniel urged.  _ **"What does home feel like to you? Touch it, sense it around you..."**_

Blaze bit his lip. "It feels... cool. Refreshing, because you're there to keep me from overheating. It feels dark, and secluded, and..."

_**"More specific,"** _

Blaze shuddered as his eyes fluttered open again. "I... that's all there is, though." Blaze replied. "Just the house and you there, then an endless void..."

Daniel smiled fondly, but Blaze's eyes snapped open sharply at some revelation, looking wildly at Daniel. Dan could see his red sclera shining brighter than usual, his bright orange iris growing thinner.

"What if it isn't working because I already have you here?" Blaze asked.

 _ **"Then think of something else you love about home,"**_  Daniel suggested, but Dan could feel something within his body warming at the sentiment.

Blaze bit his lip. "I... I can't. I can't imagine a home without you, because you are my home..."

Suddenly, Dan could sense pain in his hand and hissed, wondering what on Earth had happened. It felt as though Dan had attempted to fry his palm, and he found his eyes watering from the pain. He couldn't see- his eyes were still locked with Blaze's, but all became clear when his right hand came into view, trailing up the ego's cheek to rest upon his forehead.

Daniel brushed aside a lock of Blaze's hair that had fallen into his face. The fire ego looked so determined to make him proud... He always did. Daniel loved the warmth that spread through him as his skin brushed Blaze's cheek, relishing in the touch he'd missed for the last few days. His hand lingered, and he could feel Blaze growing hotter against his touch.

"Daniel?" Blaze whispered, seemingly confused about the distance between them shrinking. His heartbeat betrayed him, thumping loudly for the world to hear, and even Dan could determine he was feeling a rush.

 ** _"You're my home too,"_**  Daniel said, leaning in and kissing Blaze fiercely, feeling the fire ego's temperature drop slightly as the heat of the kiss was transferred to the demon. If he'd known this would feel so nice, Daniel would have told Blaze long ago how he felt about him.

Dan was hardly in shock. No, the experience could more simply be chalked up to pain. He felt the searing hot flames come into contact with his skin, trying to flinch but being held down by Daniel's control over his body. His tears manifested, however, dripping slowly from his face and hissing as they fell to Blaze's warm skin. Neither ego seemed to notice that Dan was still there, and neither seemed to care. Dan felt like his insides were about to overcook, his brain growing fuzzy and his eyes burning with heat. He tried to scream, but his lips were preoccupied, sizzling as moisture met Blaze's hot touch.

_Is this how I die?_

**~Void~**

_Breathe out..._

"Is that... over there?"

_Breathe out..._

"Shit... summon it! What are you waiting..."

_Breathe out..._

_..._

"I... sink ve're losing..."

"No! We can't let..."

_..._

_..._

_... Breathe... in...?_

**~Groundlands~**

Anti strode purposefully through the halls of the building, not bothering to pause and see if he was being followed. It would look much less suspicious if he just walked straight ahead. His hand was slightly fried from punching the electronic lock the way he did, and then destroying the feed for the camera in the corner, but after people started complaining about him out the front he knew he had to move quickly.

 _Of͢ co͝u͝rse t̷hey̧ t̨hi̢nk̴ I'͘m a fook̶i̴n h̵omel̸e̵ss pȩrs̛on,_  Anti huffed.  _M͢ight as ̸w͢e̶ll b̷e̛. I ̶h̕a̴ve͏n̨'t ͜had ̸a h̸o͜m̵e ̛i͟n̛ y̴ea͘rs..._

He knocked loudly on the door that he knew the pair was behind. He wasn't an idiot, he could smell the ashy woodland scent that followed Blaze from a mile away. When nobody answered, he grew more annoyed.

_To̷ th̡ink͘ I once ͟re̷g͟a̛r̛ded̢ ͢y̕o̴u as̕ a fr̶̴̨i͘͝e̢̧n͟҉d̵͞..._

He looked at his hand, which had several severe burns and small cuts on it. Even as he watched, they were healing over. If he used this hand to punch down the door, Jack would likely have to have some kind of reconstructive surgery, perhaps even an amputation...

Anti could feel Jack trying to regain control, the human's stress levels rising as he thought of the coming events.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you Jackaboy?" Anti taunted. "Having to explain how you fucked up your hand to everyone who thinks you're perfect... I wonder what you'll do for a living if you can't play your stupid games?"

Anti grinned. It would certainly cause Jack some measure of pain once he finally pushed the glitch from his body. It would serve as a nice little reminder of what Jack had made Anti feel by resisting him for so long... _All̸ th̛e be͞t͡ter. ͠I'd̡ love͟ ̛to̸ s͞ee y̶o̵u͞ ̧s͠quir̴m͡._

He knocked once more, deciding to give them the benefit of the doubt. His other hand ran across his knife, kept concealed on the inside of his jacket, briefly fantasising about the many ways he could impale Blaze with it. He could feel his nerves tingle with excitement as he stepped forward.

_"Time's up..."_

**~Void~**

_Breathe in... breathe out..._

"Doc... more unstable!"

"Do... best you can..."

_Breathe in... breathe out..._

"Stay with me buddy, come on..."

"Is he dead?!"

"No, he's dying!"

_Breathe in... breathe out..._

"I'll get the defibrillator!"

"Hang on, he's coming to..."

"Phil? Phil, can you hear me?!"

_Breathe in..._


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

**~Groundlands~**

Dan struggled against his fiery prison, feeling suffocated and defeated like never before. He tried to scream out, calling to Daniel, to Blaze, to anyone for help. Daniel either didn't hear him or didn't care, and Dan sincerely hoped it was the former. He didn't know what he'd do if his inner demon didn't care for him as much as he'd let on- what if this entire caring act really  _was_ just a ruse?

Dan had the sinking feeling that his demon, despite his words, held compassion only for Blaze.

He blinked away his tears, struggling once more. He could feel himself shutting down, the heat taking over, his temperature rising higher and higher... somehow, Dan knew he was going to die today.

Through his blind panic, Dan could still sense familiar lips on his own, the delicate skin thickening and blistering until he could barely feel the kiss anymore. He didn't know if this was better or worse than it was before, but there was nothing he could do now to change it.

Dan had kissed Phil only once in the past. As much as he tried to forget it afterwards, he found that it was a memory he'd be stuck with forever, for better or worse. The night he decided he needed to help himself, the first night in a long while where he felt free...

 _Now look where it's got me_ , Dan thought bitterly.

He blinked once more, his tears feeling unnaturally cool against his skin as his mouth continued to move against his will. That night, he'd won over Daniel. It had taken a long time, but Dan was able to block him out, and everything became normal, as if nothing had happened.

_Everything used to be normal..._

Oh, how Dan wanted it to be normal again. If only he'd kept taking his pills- if only he hadn't let the demon in. If he could go back in time to this morning and slap himself silly, he would.

_What am I thinking? If I could go back in time, I'd tell Phil never to let someone other than him take control of his body._

But he couldn't go back in time, and here he sat, letting himself be practically lip raped by a false image of his best friend.

He blinked.

And once more.

And then it hit him.

_I... I can blink! What else can I do?_

Dan tried to move his lips closed, but he couldn't feel them anymore. He tried to shift his head backwards, but he only moved marginally, not nearly enough to break free.

He imagined himself gritting his teeth, as he seemed to have no control over his own mouth. The pills had kept Daniel out. The happy pills. A plan came to mind, and it was completely ridiculous but Dan felt that he had no other option.

Quickly, he thought of the happiest memory he could...

_He and Phil were sitting alone atop the Manchester Eye. It was a simpler time- less demons and egos out to trample on their nonexistent plans for life, for sure. He remembered feeling as if he was floating, being able to touch the sky and imagine what it would be like to live away from it all. With every loop of the wheel, every cycle, Dan found himself looking forward to being at the top again, as if nothing else had mattered to him._

_"You're making this metaphorical, aren't you?" Phil had laughed, playfully pushing him to the side of the car. It wobbled with the shift in weight, sending adrenaline through Dan's body._

_And Dan had felt his heart soar._

_'EXPECTO PATRONUM!'_  Dan mentally exclaimed as his arm jerked wildly into Blaze's chest, interrupting the deathly embrace the egos had been sharing. Had that really worked?

_Of course it worked! Focus! He's trying to keep you down!_

Dan scrambled away from the stunned and confused ego before him, desperately trying to squander Daniel's hold on his body. He felt some resistance, but eventually he found himself thrashing unnecessarily. The demon, it seemed, had melted away.

"I- Daniel, what-?" Blaze stuttered, reaching over. "You're-"

"Shit- fuck, it's me!" Dan said, shoving Blaze away. He breathed heavily, fingers running tentatively through his hair as Blaze looked on in a mild state of shock. He was vaguely aware of a knock on the door, but his attention was turned instead to the inflamed pink skin that marked his once pale body.

Burns, millions of them, littering every surface of his skin. Burns in the shape of fingerprints, burns along his cheeks, his lips feeling like hardened and cracked clay. When he painfully brought his fingers up to touch them, they came away stained with darkened blood.

"Fuck..." Dan cursed again, watching in mild horror as his broken skin begin to heal over before his very eyes. This shouldn't be possible... yet here he was. Sitting in a room with someone that bore his friend's image, looking at the once clear hand-shaped marks that should have left scars.

"I... I don't understand," Blaze spoke.

Dan rounded on him, angry as his mind weighed out the troubles he'd faced because of this ego. He wasn't an angry person- no, but he was definitely spiteful. And he didn't want to hurt Blaze, but after the last few days, Dan felt as though he had a right to be mad.

"You..." Dan started, trying to think of the words to convey his pain, his confusion, his frustration. He groaned loudly when he realised that he just couldn't do it. It was Phil standing there- Phil's sweeping black hair, Phil's clothing, Phil's nose, and lips, and if Blaze kept his face low Dan could almost believe it was Phil's eyes.

He couldn't say such hurtful things to his best friend...

Blaze met his eyes again, but Dan could see that he looked sorrowful. His sclera were faded to a dull black, the orange a dim glow. Tears had formed and were slowly sliding down the ego's face.

Dan was startled to realise that they weren't evaporating.

"Are you alright?" Blaze asked, seeming genuinely concerned. "I-"

_KNOCK KNOCK!_

Both sets of eyes flicked to the door, and Dan sighed, getting up. Any distraction was welcome, at this point. He didn't stop to think what people would say when he showed up looking like a victim of a house fire.

In a way, he guessed he kind of was.

He wiped some stray tears from his face as he shakily stood, trying not to fall over as he made his way to the door. As he disappeared around the corner, Blaze felt a sense of dread overcome him. It was like all the hope had run away from his core, and he bit his lip nervously before calling out.

"Dan? I'm sor-"

Blaze was interrupted by a loud thud and some whimpering, immediately becoming alert. His mind was filled with various possibilities, none of them good, as he got to his feet and approached the entrance.

"Dan?" He called.

A thud, and something heavy hit the ground in front of him. Blaze gasped aloud, tears welling once more in his eyes as he saw the feebly moving figure of Dan crawling away from the door. One hand on his stomach, the other held out before him in a silent plea for the attacker to stop. Blaze felt sickened to see that Dan's clothes were slowly becoming more permeated with blood, the red smeared across his fingertips as the light slowly but surely drained from his eyes.

At the last second, his eyes met Blaze's. He tried to open his mouth to speak a warning, but instead he winced and collapsed in pain, tears streaming from his tired and scared eyes.

Somebody stepped over the body, carelessly kicking Dan aside. The human yelped feebly in pain as his blood slowly began soaking into the carpet. Blaze balled his hands into fists, feeling the flames on his body ignite again. But when the attacker rounded the corner, nothing could have prepared Blaze for what he would see.

The man grinned maniacally, his coat and jeans spattered with fresh blood and the kitchen knife in his hand dripping crimson. Blaze would have been sick if he hadn't been so shocked. No... how was he here?  _Why_  was he here?

_Why would he do this to Dan?_

"Anti?" he breathed, eyeing the knife with fear and trepidation.

The glitch's eyes flashed dangerously. "Oh... you remember me  _now_ , do you?"

**~Void~**

"He appears to be in a state of asphyxiation," Dr. Iplier muttered as he dragged Phil's limp body over to the other egos.

"What's that?" Wilford asked, seemingly unperturbed by the situation unfolding before him. All of the other egos were on edge, looking down at the unconscious man with barely any idea of what to do, except for the two doctors.

"Asphyxiation is the state or process of being deprived of oxygen, which can result in unconsciousness or death," Google supplied.

"Well just think up some oxygen for him," Wilford said as though it were obvious. 

Dr. Schneeplestein shook his head. "Nein. Ve vill have to perform CPR. Doctor?"

"Right," Dr. Iplier affirmed. "Henrik, summon some oxygen. I will begin the compressions."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Chase asked. Bing placed his hand on the ego's own, squeezing it reaffirmingly. He'd read on the internet that physical contact was a good treatment for those in high stress, but until now he'd never had to use this information. He offered his other hand to Google, who scoffed but discreetly accepted it anyway.

"Statistically, 10-20% of people who receive CPR survive long enough to be discharged from hospital," Google answered.

"Shit, Google, I don't want statistics, I want reassurance!" Chase snapped.

Bing tightened his hold as Google looked affronted. "We have the best doctors in the void on our side," he said.

Marvin tsked, looking slightly sick at the scene. "We have the  _only_  doctors in the void here."

"Well at least we  _have_ doctors!" Septiplier interrupted.

"I don't see what the big deal is about," Wilford said. Nobody responded, because everyone knew the man was mentally unstable. Death didn't mean the same thing to him as it did to others.

"Is it vorking, Doctor?" Schneeplestein asked.

"I can feel his heartbeat, but he isn't waking up..." Dr. Iplier said, slumping to his knees. Phil's chest rose up and down, but he didn't stir.

"Vhat's your diagnosis?"

Dr. Iplier sighed in defeat. "The patient is comatose."

Schneeplestein knelt beside him, placing a hand on his back.

"At least he is not dead," the German doctor commented. "Zat would be much vorse. I'm proud of you."

Dr. Iplier looked up, smiling despite the grim mood. Schneeplestein returned it, and they subconsciously leaned closer to each other.

"I don't deserve you, Henrik..."

"Yeah, we get it, you're in love, now what do we do about him?" Marvin asked, gazing at the fallen human.

"The Host would like to interject and to tell the assembled egos that they should remain calm. Darkiplier is not likely to be away for long."

Chase sighed, and sat down on the spot, feeling the cold ground beneath him begin to turn into a nice, fluffy carpet. He may not have had as much power as Dark or Anti, but he had enough of a recognition that he could do things like this. Looking around at his brothers and friends, Chase felt that they all needed this.

Bing sat beside him, their hands still entwined though Google had long since let go. Neither ego seemed to notice, and nobody saw fit to comment on it as all attention was on Phil.

One by one, the rest of the egos took their places, seated on the ground as they waited for the human before them to awaken. Without their home, they were lost. It was all up to Phil now.

If only he could have known it.

 


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

******~Groundlands~**

"What have you done?!" Blaze demanded, sidestepping as Anti lunged for him, the knife barely missing his wildly thumping chest. The ego was distraught- he'd gone from mild surprise when Daniel had kissed him to shock and fear as the day's events transpired, each more deathly than the last. He didn't know if Daniel was okay, if Dan was alive, if anybody in the building could hear their shouts. He wanted somebody to intervene, but at the same time he was anxious about what would happen if somebody found out he wasn't human.

Anti grinned maniacally, tapping his palm with the knife, spattering droplets of crimson with every shallow swipe. "You're not stupid, are you? Can't you see death with your own eyes?"

"I was trying to get  _you_  to acknowledge it, dipshit," Blaze growled, his tears steaming before they left his eyes. He was vaguely aware of an impossibly bright aura filling the room, but he had other things to be concerned about.

 _I must be delusional_ , Blaze concluded hopelessly. He kept on his feet, trying to look anywhere but at the shuddering form of Dan that lay discarded in the doorway, knowing that deep down, he had failed to protect him.

And that hurt a lot more than Blaze had ever expected to feel.

"Feisty," Anti commented, wiping some of Dan's blood away from the already stained knife. "You insist on resisting? Maybe you just don't want your blood to be contaminated. I'll fix that for you..."

"You're sick," Blaze spat, torn between lunging at his former friend and running away from the scene. He knew he couldn't take Anti on his own- heck, even Dark struggled to hold him down when they fought in the void. But he also knew that he had nowhere else to go. The only person in this mortal realm who knew and understood him was bleeding out on the floor, possibly already gone.

"I just want  _jus̢t҉i͝c̢e_ ," Anti returned, advancing slowly. His shoes tracked Dan's blood across the carpet as Blaze stumbled backwards, fearing him.

"I never did anything to you! I was your friend! Why would you do this?" Blaze cried, still shocked, angry and confused. "Dan did  _nothing_ to you!"

Anti shrugged nonchalantly. "He was in my way. Any pathetic lowlife who wants to protect you after what you've done deserves the same fate."

Anti laughed pitifully as he stepped closer. With a start, Blaze realised his back was against the wall. Anti's grin grew ever closer, his eyes shining a bright, septic green.

"You know, those words sound familiar," Anti cackled in mad glee. "Oh yes... they're what your  _p̸r̛ec͡i̧o̶u̢s_ demon told me after I finally took control for the first time..."

"Daniel wouldn't-" Blaze began, but immediately stopped to question himself. He realised with a start that Daniel  _would_.

"Not anymore, he won't," Anti replied, bringing the knife closer and closer to Blaze's throat. "Out of what little respect I still have for you, I'll make this quick."

He raised his knife to strike, and Blaze let out a terrified scream.

**~?~**

Phil opened his eyes with a start, panicking when he saw a figure advancing upon him. Where was Dark? Daniel? The void he'd become so accustomed to was gone, and in its place there seemed to be a dressing room. But analysis of where he was and how he'd got here would have to be decided  _after_  he got out of the way of the incoming knife.

Phil quickly ducked, hitting his back against a dresser and wheezing as the air was knocked from his lungs- but his goal was achieved. The knife had missed. His attacker cursed loudly and Phil could hear that he had a very familiar Irish accent. He thought he'd recognised the face, but he wasn't sure until now of just who he was in the room with.

Letting out a breath of relief at the narrow miss, Phil looked down in astonishment to find that bright blue flames were dancing across his fingertips. He had no time to be amazed, however. A force that wasn't his own suddenly took control of his body, moving once more out of harm's way. It was a strange feeling that Phil found he didn't like- he could feel his limbs moving but he lacked insight as to where he was going. It was like having a restless leg that wouldn't stop shaking.

Determined, Phil seized back control and stood, regarding the figure before him with steely eyes. It was the face of Jack- but no. Those eyes weren't human.

"Anti!" Phil exclaimed under his breath. But why was he here? And why was Phil with him?

_"Fucking move, he's going to kill us!"_

Phil felt his body fall slack, collapsing to the ground just in time to avoid being hit. For good measure, Phil kicked the ego in his crotch, feeling satisfied as the green haired man fell to his knees.

He didn't even register that he'd heard a voice in his head. All of his thoughts drained from his mind as if a plug had been pulled when he saw, in the corner, a shivering man he knew all too well. And the blood... so much blood. 

Phil ran to him, forgetting all caution as he turned Dan over, his breaths catching in his throat when he saw the slit in his shirt from which the blood had been pouring.

"Dan? Can you hear me?!" Phil asked desperately, holding his cold hand. His blue fire licked gently at the skin, but Phil didn't notice or care. His best friend was bleeding out and he wasn't here in time to stop it.

Dan didn't move, but Phil could have sworn he saw something in those eyes that betrayed him. He stared intently, ignoring all instinct to move as he knew that Anti was still here, but he  _had to know_.

And Dan blinked. Once, twice. Phil felt tears run down his face in happiness, and he almost scooped up the body before he heard a low whisper.

_**"Don't tell him..."** _

"Daniel?" Phil felt himself utter, but it wasn't him speaking at all. "I... alright..."

"He's dead, Blaze," Anti said, standing and staggering forward. "Stop deluding yourself."

_Blaze?_

And suddenly, Phil understood.

**~Groundlands~**

Blaze didn't understand- couldn't understand the feeling inside him. It was as though his insides were expanding, pushing his form to a physical limit he'd never experienced before today. He kept moving irrationally, out of his control, and the sudden bursts of action gave him some much needed seconds to think.

Dan was still alive! He'd spoken impossibly through his cold, dead lips, and Blaze knew he had to make sure Anti didn't know it. Why? Blaze had no clue. But he trusted Daniel, and therefore Dan with all of his being, and all of Phil's being too.

He rolled to the side, knocking over a stray piece of furniture, hoping to deter Anti but to no avail. The glitch bounded over it, grabbing Blaze by the neck of his shirt and hoisting him up.

"You always were an annoying little shit," Anti hissed.

Blaze spat in his face, stepping away when Anti recoiled. "Fuck you, I'm taller than you, you Irish bitch-"

_"Maybe less insults and more getting help!"_

The voice sounded chillingly familiar to Blaze's own, but he couldn't pause to contemplate it. Somehow, deep down, he already knew the answer.

Phil seized control as Anti made to step forward, grabbing his wrist and punching him in the gut, knocking the knife flying. Blaze felt an immense pain in his own wrist, hissing as he realised it was probably sprained. He saw the knife slide underneath a chair, obscuring it from view. It would take a little longer for Anti to recover it this way, and Blaze allowed himself to rejoice.

Anti laughed under his breath as he grabbed both of Phil's fists in his hands, shoving him against the wall. Phil whimpered slightly at the pain on his already bruised wrist. At the sign of weakness, Anti squeezed harder, seemingly enjoying every moment of anguish he put them through. Blaze began to question how he'd ever been this ego's friend.

"I see," Anti grinned. "Your human has come to join you. Too bad he'd have died either way-"

"Actually, I think you'll find that's where you're wrong,"

Blaze had never felt so relieved to hear the demon's chilling voice. He relaxed and slumped against the wall, breathing through the pain of his wrist and his bruised body as Anti dropped him, turning to face his nemesis.

"You always have to throw a wrench in my plans, don't you?" Anti hissed, his eyes flickering from blue to green, then to blue again as if someone else was fighting to take control.

Darkiplier looked on grimly, adjusting his tie. He bent down and picked up the knife, and Anti smirked despite the obvious shift in power.

"Let us finish this."

**~?~**

Daniel was distraught, fretting, his mind being attacked by the very emotions he'd once held over the pitiful humans he'd tormented. Self doubt, fear, pain, all building up in his cold heart.

He sat alone in the void, nobody in sight. From his stomach he was bleeding profusely, but he couldn't see the wound to tend to it. Demons didn't have blood, but then, demons weren't meant to take the wounds of humans onto their own forms. He hoped it wasn't all for naught. 

He couldn't stay- not while Dan was dying on the floor. He'd grown attached to the human over the years, and letting him die was out of the question. But he couldn't manifest physically in any other form, so he had to make the decision.

Leave Blaze alone to fight Anti, or kill Dan for the sake of his own desires.

In the end, he couldn't bring himself to risk it. He'd absorbed all of Dan's wounds, feeling immensely sorry and regretful for the pain he'd put the human through. He'd let matters fall out of hand when he kissed Blaze, and though he'd never truly regret it, he knew there was a time and place for such things. It was the least he could do, really. If not for Daniel, Dan wouldn't have been injured today. Once again, the pain and suffering of a human had been his vice.

Daniel smiled grimly to himself. He'd long come to terms with the fact he was a dark creature, and taking joy from others' anguish would always be in his nature. But he vowed that from this day, he wouldn't return to the Groundlands. He'd have to be content with living in this eternal wasteland of a dimension, Blaze by his side.

But then, if he had Blaze by his side, Daniel knew he'd live anywhere. Now, he had to wait.

If Blaze didn't come back, Daniel didn't know what he'd do...

 

 


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

******~Void~**

It didn't take long for the egos to fall into a peaceful slumber. Without Dark giving them orders, they never really knew what to do with themselves. After all, egos only had a purpose when they were in the body of their host. 

The only one who had stayed visibly alert was Dr. Iplier, who had insisted on keeping tabs on the still unconscious form of Phil. After all, if he fell asleep with the others, Phil would run out of air once more, and the doctor would never willingly let his patient die.

He instead took his time to observe the others, all sitting around Phil, waiting for something extraordinary to happen. Some were slumped on the ground, others had fallen into the lap of the person next to them, but they were all relaxed and worry-free. He saw Chase and Bing, hands still entwined as they lay together on the nonexistent ground. Dr. Iplier noted that Chase wasn't displaying any restless sleep symptoms and actually looked rather peaceful- a strange occurrence, as Chase sometimes had to be medicated before he could even begin to relax.

Dr. Iplier supposed that it must be because of the reassurance Bing was providing, letting Chase hold his hand like that... The doctor knew the android probably didn't understand how heavily a simple touch like this could impact a human, but found himself grateful for the help. Handling Chase's depression on his own had always been a difficult task, and anything that brought the poor soul happiness, even briefly, was always welcomed.

"Androids don't sleep,"

The doctor looked to the side to see Google alert and blinking, watching the other search engine's chest rise and fall, mimicking a human's sleep pattern. Though Google was awake, he was lying on his back, his body deathly still. "He's awake. Just pretending."

"Is that so?" Dr. Iplier smiled to himself. In confirmation, Bing shuffled slightly and flipped Google the bird, still keeping his other hand on Chase's.

"Shh, dude, you're gonna wake him up..." Bing muttered.

Despite himself, Google seemed to chuckle. The doctor looked at him curiously, wondering about the robot's thought process. Google often pretended not to have a sense of humour, after all, and Dr. Iplier was determined to discover more about his selective behaviours.

"What is it that you find so amusing, hm?" Dr. Iplier probed.

Google shrugged. "Bing has managed to deviate from his programming and find a sense of attachment to this inferior life form... It's... fascinating, to say the least."

Bing seemed to flush, though it was hard to tell in the dimly lit space. "He's my bro, of course I care about him."

Dr. Iplier knew that response all too well- the red cheeks, the hasty words? Please, Bing definitely felt more than simple friendship for Chase. Yet in order to keep the peace, he refrained from making a comment about the robot's love life. Heaven knows he was in no place to judge- he'd never officially announced his relationship with Henrik, but everyone seemed to know about it anyway. The only egos with a more blatant romantic relationship were Dark and Anti- even the Host could see their sexual tension.

"Do you think you'll ever find attachment to an inferior life form?" Dr. Iplier asked Google, who shook his head without any hesitation.

"Attachment is not in my programming." He answered stiffly.

The doctor smiled to himself as he thought about how much of a lie that was. Google felt attachment to a lot of people, he just didn't like admitting it to himself.

He turned toward the stretching figure of Yandereplier, who had been curled up next to Marvin. Dr. Iplier was amused to see that Jack's magician ego was wide awake, merely pretending to sleep. The doctor couldn't blame him.

If he had a deranged ego like Yandereplier breathing down his neck, he wouldn't be able to rest either.

"Sure," Yandereplier chimed in, finger running along the edge of one of his many blades. "I used to feel the same. But then, I met my Senpai and everything changed-"

"Just go to sleep, you fookin langers!" Marvin groaned, summoning pillows and flicking them at the awake members of the group.

The doctor observed the following reactions, almost missing the pillow that had come flying towards him. He reached up and deflected it just in time, while Google was caught off guard and Bing laughed his clumsiness off, having been hit in the face. Yandereplier smiled sweetly at Marvin, pillow clutched in his hand, and Marvin rolled his eyes.

Bing gently propped his pillow underneath Chase's head, while Google brushed his pillow carelessly from his lap to the ground. Bing quickly snatched that one too, resting it with the other, despite Google's incredulous expression.

"What? Humans are fragile, dude," Bing whispered, resuming his place on the ground.

_Interesting..._

"This pillow would smell even better with your blood on it," Yandereplier said to Marvin, who looked a little queasy.

"No thanks," Marvin said, pushing Yandereplier away.

Yandereplier then proceeded to tear multiple holes through the pillowcase, spreading feathers everywhere. Thankfully, none of the egos were too sensitive around the nose.

"Vhat's all ze ruckus?"

Dr. Iplier sighed to himself and let his lover rest his head in his lap, where he'd placed the pillow after catching it. "Nothing much, just having a chat... there isn't much else to do until Dark returns from the Groundlands, after all."

"I know vhat ve could do," Henrik said, and Marvin made a noise of indignation.

"If you two start fookin, I will end my existence."

"I would be happy to assist," Google added.

"I'll lend you my knife," Yandereplier offered.

Henrik shook his head. "Nein, you all have such dirty minds. Kids zese days... Vhat I vas suggesting is zat ve rest. It's been a long day."

"We're trying to, trust me," Marvin replied. Yandereplier pouted.

"Zhere's no use in vaking everyone up," Henrik said pointedly. "Nobody around here gets ze required eight hours of sleep per day, you all need it."

"My Senpai needs his beauty sleep," Yandereplier said, flopping down on top of Marvin before he could react. The magician groaned heavily.

"Yer crushin' me mask, Yandereplier..."

"Oh, sorry," Yandereplier said, quickly removing the mask. Marvin blushed as the red haired man then lay his head on the magician's chest. "You look perfect without it."

Marvin only sighed in response, mouthing a 'fuck you' to Google, who had raised his eyebrows at the pair. Google grinned in response.

Henrik gently pushed Dr. Iplier's chest so that the ego was laying on his back, the pillow dissipating as Marvin finally drifted to sleep, Yandereplier hugging his middle.

"Zhat means you too, Doc." Henrik said, inching closer.

"But I've got to summon oxygen for Phil, keep him in a stable state-"

"Shut it, vill you? Google vill summon it. You must rest, I insist."

Dr. Iplier sighed in defeat, letting himself relax for the first time in what felt like weeks. Henrik lay close to him, his hair brushing the doctor's face and his chest pressed against Iplier's side. Human contact was so comfortable- no, nothing was as comfortable as Henrik.

"Are you alright with that, Google?" Dr. Iplier asked, hoping for some reassurance.

Google blinked a few times, shrugging as he sighed.

"Logically, I suppose I am the best choice."

Google awaited a response, but was met only with the soft snoring of several egos. He glanced quietly around. Nobody stirred.

Bing, the only other awake member of the group, was preoccupied with the slightly stirring form of Chase. When Marvin's pillows had disappeared, Bing had wasted no time in shifting so that Chase could rest on his stomach instead, and now the android was rubbing soothing circles on Chase's forehead, most probably in effort to calm him down.

Seeing how they fit so closely together, Google almost wished he could deviate from his own strict programming.

But, he digressed. He could sense the oxygen levels plummeting in the atmosphere around him, and did nothing to stop it. He, of course, was educated in his decision. Unlike Bing or the doctors, Google had taken the time to research and properly assess Phil's condition. The human wasn't comatose- no, he was just torn between realms. If the egos had simply let him suffocate, Phil would have woken up in his human body long before. After all, humans couldn't die unless they were in their own body. Being unable to use one's body is, after all, the definition of mortal death. To die, Phil had to be brought back to the Groundlands by the forces of natural order, and there Google knew that his soul would join Blaze's in inhabiting his body.

So long as the fire ego had continued using lungs, that is. Google wasn't close enough to him to make an educated guess, but given his stupidity in trying to possess a body without guidance, Google could believe it if he was told that Blaze hadn't been using his human form effectively.

Phil's breathing stilled, his image fading against the darkness of the void, the light leaving his figure until there was nothing left.

Google closed his eyes and sighed. It was finally done.

**~Groundlands~**

"What are you gonna do, stab me?" Anti laughed hysterically. "You know I love a little knife play, Darky."

"You will address me by my proper title," Darkiplier sighed in exasperation. "I grow tired of this song and dance, Anti. When will you give up and accept your life as an ego without raising conflict?"

Anti could feel himself glitching uncontrollably. This didn't usually happen when he was in his physical form, but the camera would always pick it up, even when he thought everything was fine. This either meant that Jack was fighting for control again, or that Anti was getting dangerously emotional.

At this point, Anti knew that both were plausible explanations.

_B̺͉̹͔͖̞̺e͉̺͍̤͡t̬̦̘͚̭̜t̫̺̟͝e͍ṟ̙ ̯̲̲͍͍͠ma̡͈͓k̺͉͖̱͘e͖̣͓͇̝͍ ͍̮̭͍͓̕ͅṱ̠̝͈̞̞͟ͅh̠̥̜̙i̸͕̟͉s̢ q̺̼͈̘̻̣̱͘u̠̮̬̯̤͟͜͞i͓̘͠c̟͖̖̠̕͠k̴̠̻̤̩͡ͅ ..._

"I'll accept my life as an ego when  _he_   _accepts me_ as an ego," Anti growled. "And I'll stop causing conflict when people get what they deserve!"

Dark looked coldly at him, and although Anti would never reveal it, he felt a small part of him break. He would sometimes remember the early days, when he was friends with Dark and Wilford, before any of the other egos came along. He had no idea of who he was, what his purpose was, but he was accepted and befriended anyway. It was all nice and simple, and Anti spent his days carefree...

But then the others had come along. When Jack included them in his life, they became more powerful than Anti had ever been in the void. They all pushed him around, treating him as if he was nothing. When Mark had created other egos, Dark had taken it upon himself to look after them, and Anti was left with nobody. 

Anti had only ever wanted friends, but that hope was shattered long ago...

" _Nobody_ deserves what you're trying to do to them." Dark replied, advancing with Anti's knife in hand. "You're assaulting innocents and plotting murder- Goddammit, Anti, I can't make excuses for you forever."

Lightning flashed outside, but to Anti's knowledge it had been clear all day. Dark was glowing red, but outside of the void, the demon was out of his element.

"And what was it called when  _I_  was attacked in that shithole?" Anti demanded, all hopes of destroying Blaze forgotten, for now. He could feel his hold on this form subsiding, and before he left he was going to make it clear just who the real enemy was.

But knowing Dark, the pathetic fire ego and his dead friend, they'd all blame him in the end anyway.

Dark's eyes flashed red as he gripped the knife, striding forward with a determined look in his eyes.

"They wouldn't have killed you, Anti!" He all but shouted.

"And so what if they wouldn't?" Anti returned, resisting the urge to spit in Dark's face. Their bodies were close, very close, yet Dark still held the knife over Anti's chest, hesitating. "You know as well as anyone that words hurt more than any blade! If I'm to blame for my oh-so-fucking-horrible crime, then t̴ha̧t̨ little s̹ḥ̖͍͍̠ͅi҉̫̳̮͎t̳̺̥̹̘ is as well!"

Anti pointed angrily at Blaze, who looked genuinely confused. The glitch's breath hitched slightly as he felt the tip of the knife against his chest, the tip sinking just deep enough to draw blood. Anti cackled, feeling his power draining away. His glitching intensified, Dark's shudders burying the blade ever so slowly in Anti's skin.

"You fooking coward," Anti hissed. "Can't even look me in the eye as you kill me."

The last thing Anti saw was the point of the knife growing closer to his face before he found himself blinking in darkness, the chilling expanse of the void looming around him.


	18. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

******~Groundlands~**

The first thing Seán noticed was that his back was against a wall and his heart was beating faster than it had ever beat before. The next was that his right hand hurt like hell, and for some reason he felt a lot more jumpy than usual.

Then there was the tip of a knife hurtling towards his face.

Seán cursed loudly in alarm and tried to duck, only to find himself stuck, pinned by grey, slightly bloodied hands. The knife stopped just short of his eyes, and stayed there, wavering.

"Stop! It's not him!"

_Is that... Phil? Why is Phil here?_

Seán felt himself collapse onto the ground, the hands that had once held him having let go. He groaned as he found he'd fallen on his arm. How had he damaged it like this? Where was he? The last thing he remembered was getting a nosebleed in his recording studio, and now...

Seán reached his left hand up and touched his face, his fingers coming away slick with slightly congealed blood. His features felt crusty as if he'd slept for far too long, and when he looked down he could see that his jacket was soaked with dried crimson fluid.

Just the sight of it made him want to gag, and this was before the inevitable metallic stench hit him.

He looked up to try and process the situation, but what he saw only confused him further. Mark was here, though he looked very grey- he was wearing a tuxedo spattered with small patches of red similar to Seán's own clothing. His shaking hands held the knife that had almost just killed him.

_But Mark wouldn't kill me! He wouldn't kill anyone!_

Seán's breathing became more erratic as he moved on to analyse other things that might give him some idea what had happened.

Phil was here, talking to the man who looked like Mark, but it wasn't quite Phil. The tall Brit seemed to have a bright blue aura surrounding him, and upon closer inspection Seán could see that it was because he had striking blue flames spreading across his skin.

_Okay, something weird is going on here..._

Now Seán began to contemplate if he was merely passed out. If he'd wake up and find that he'd just slipped on his way to the kitchen and busted his arm when he fell. This had to be a dream, right? There's no way Phil wouldn't be screaming right now if that was actual fire...

And Seán realised something else...  _Dan_. He was never too far from Phil, so he must be here somewhere. He scanned his surroundings, his vision somewhat blurry, which was mildly terrifying to him. The last he checked, he wasn't this short sighted... right?

But soon enough, Dan walked into his field of view, and Seán's breath hitched in his throat.

He was absolutely drenched in it- still wet, by the looks of it, seeming to originate from the man's stomach. Red fluid that had clotted whilst running down his jeans, spattered across his face, his fingertips smudged with it.

But the most disturbing part of it all was that he seemed perfectly fine. A little shocked, yes, but fine nonetheless.

"He got away," The man who bore Mark's image muttered, looking at the ground with disdain. "He's back in the void again, it could take weeks to track him down."

"Well, you can sort him out, right?" Phil asked, his fiery aura beginning to subside. Seán blinked a few times, wondering if his vision was clearing or if he just wanted it too bad.

"Hopefully," the man replied. "I see you've managed to return to your physical form, Phil."

Phil smiled. "Indeed I have. I... I'm not sure how, but all that matters is I'm back, right?"

"Not quite," the man said, stepping closer to Phil. "Blaze is still within you. You're on fire."

Phil looked down at his hands, seemingly unsurprised to see them crawling with bright blue flames. "Thought it was a bit toasty in here."

Dan laughed nervously. "Great, great... you're... you're really Phil, right?"

Phil turned and crushed Dan in a hug as if they'd been apart for weeks. Seán knew they hadn't, however- they were on tour, weren't they? How long had he been asleep?

How did he even end up here?

"Oh my god, I missed you so much Dan."

Dan, to Seán's mild surprise, began to cry. He clung to Phil as if he was his life force, burying his face in Phil's shoulder and holding him almost too close to be called platonic. Even Phil seemed a little surprised, but still held the embrace, patting Dan's back comfortingly.

"Honestly, fuck your ego," Dan laughed a little bitterly. "He's an absolute twat."

Something within Seán twitched as he remembered something about his ego. But no... it couldn't be.

Phil raised an eyebrow, his hand falling away from Dan's back as he loosened their hug. "He says you're just salty because you were the third wheel earlier."

Dan pulled away, blinking. It saddened Seán that he could see the shining tears in Dan's eyes. What had left the man so distraught?

"Did he just... wow, okay, too soon."

Phil seemed strangely quiet. After a few moments, his attention returned and he looked sharply at Dan, who was being remarkably patient. Seán still had no idea what the heck was going on. "He says he's sorry, Dan. He's not telling me what he's sorry for, but I assume you know."

Dan sighed, hugging Phil once more. "Yeah... tell him I accept it, and we'll leave it at that."

"He can hear you, you spork," Phil chuckled. "Wow, is this like what you had with Daniel all those years ago?"

Dan snickered. "What, a sarcastic shit in your head telling you what to do? Welcome to the club, hold the door on the way in. You'll want out soon enough."

The grey man coughed to get their attention. "As much as I'd like to call this issue resolved, I do believe I came here with a purpose. Blaze, show yourself now and I won't have to resort to drastic measures."

Seán's eyes widened as Phil's flames suddenly turned from blue to red, the sclera of his eyes changing to match. His hair seemed to droop on his head as he looked sheepishly at the man, who regarded him with mild contempt.

 **"You're lucky you didn't cause anybody harm,"**  came the condescending tone of the grey man. The voice was so similar to Mark's, but so deep and warbled that Seán didn't know what to think. It was strikingly familiar to him, but just out of his reach. It frustrated him that he couldn't remember where he'd heard it before.

"I'm sorry, Dark, I-" Phil began.

The man, Dark, held up his hand. Phil stopped talking at once.

"I don't want your apology. I want your word that you will never again attempt advanced possession or influence if you aren't adequately prepared for it. I have enough egos to look after without you running around in someone else's body with no way to return, am I understood, Blaze?"

Phil looked down, sighing in defeat. "Yes, Dark."

Dark straightened his tie and looked at Dan.

"What happened to you?"

Dan bit his lip. "It's... a long story. I was caught up in some... ego stuff and..."

He trailed off, looking very uncomfortable.

"I understand," Dark said delicately. "With the two that were previously here, it's no wonder. I assume you got your burnt clothes from Blaze, and your stab wounds from Anti?"

Dan nodded quietly, his eyes meeting Seán's as the Irishman finally found some sense in the situation.

_No, not a dream... Just fookin Anti again..._

Seán never remembered being possessed by his strange alter ego- he always woke up as if nothing had happened, only to find that he'd missed a date with Signe, or that some days had passed where he'd not recorded a video, or he'd find twenty missed calls asking why he hadn't responded in three days. Usually, he kept several days of videos ready to upload so nobody really noticed he wasn't himself when this happened. Sometimes, Anti even recorded videos of his own.

Seán didn't believe in Anti at first, but the coincidences grew stronger with every appearance the glitch made, until he had to accept that something out of the ordinary was happening to him. When he'd awoken in a pool of dried blood at his desk the day before Halloween, his body slumped over a mildly rotten pumpkin, he'd finally realised that something wasn't right. He couldn't remember the last seven days, and watching back his last video, his body spasming and glitching across the screen... Seán didn't film that. He  _wouldn't_ film that.

But Anti usually just turned up to make Seán feel miserable. This? Attacking Dan and Phil- Seán couldn't begin to comprehend Anti's motives. He wasn't even that close to the British boys, so why, out of everyone, did Anti target  _them_?

"I'm so sorry," Seán said, attempting to stand. Phil was at his side quickly, assisting him when he inevitably stumbled. He leaned against the wall again, propping himself up while he regained circulation. The room's occupants all looked at him with worry.

"It's fine, Jack," Dan said. "It wasn't you. Trust me when I say I know the feeling of not being in control."

"He could have killed you," Seán insisted. "That ego is a fookin menace..."

"I think..." Dan said quietly. "I think he  _did_. I was already pretty badly hurt, and then he stabbed me, and I... I lost consciousness, but somehow, I was alive. And now there's nothing to show for it but blood, I...I still don't know exactly what happened..."

"Daniel must have absorbed your wounds," Dark noted. Phil gasped, drawing everyone's attention.

"Daniel's hurt?"

"He's a demon, Blaze," Dark said. "He can feel pain, but he is in no real danger. If you'd like to return to the void and tend to him, however, you're free to go."

Within seconds Phil's aura completely faded, and his eyes became blue once more. He stumbled for a moment, gripping Dan's shoulder for support.

"That is very unsettling," Phil said, looking queasy.

Dark grimaced, placing his head in his hands. "He's not meant to leave so quickly... you'd best take a seat and recover your bearings."

Dan shook his head in mild disbelief. "So all he needed to do was be told that Daniel was hurt? Jesus, I could've been rid of him so much sooner..."

"Was he really that bad?" Phil asked. Dan merely gave him a look that Seán interpreted as 'try me bitch'.

"Right, I see what you mean," Phil sighed. Seán wished he could have someone in his life that could read him so easily. He never really got out much to spend enough time with the people he loved.

_None of them even notice when I disappear._

"I... I feel a little left out of the loop here, I'm not gonna lie," Seán said, still cautiously leaning against the wall. He didn't trust himself to move forward, fearing he'd fall again.

"Shit, it's almost time for the show..." Dan muttered, looking down at himself. "Thank god Blaze was so pushy about not wearing the outfits until we had to. We need to clean up, Phil, we're covered in blood..."

"Wait, where even are we?" Phil asked, looking out of the window.

Dan smiled. "We're in Liverpool, we have two shows today. You still remember your lines, right?"

Seán tried to be inconspicuous as he mouthed  _'Liverpool?'_  to himself. Good lord, that's like the opposite side of England to his place. It was gonna be a long ride back.

"Of course," Phil grinned in return, not noticing Seán's look of disdain.

"Hold on you two," Dark said, stopping Dan and Phil before they left the room. "Give me your arms."

As they complied, Dark reached out to touch the boys' arms. He began to glow red, and Seán's eyes widened as the blood vanished. From the walls, from the floor, from everyone's clothes. The furniture still looked disturbed, but apart from that, the room was meticulously clean.

"Do wonders ever cease?" Phil commented, looking himself over. "I can't thank you enough for what you've done for us, Dark."

Dark waved him off. "What sort of politician would I be if I let someone in need of my help fall short of their goal?"

Dan snorted. "A real one."

Even Seán chuckled at that one, and Dark looked over at him as Dan grabbed Phil by the arm again. The two British boys said hasty goodbyes as they fled the room, and Seán was only a little hurt. But he pushed it aside. He knew how stressful a tour could be, and that was  _without_  ego business to worry about.

"Can you stand?" Dark asked him delicately. "I must apologise for the harsh way that I treated you earlier."

Seán sighed, carefully putting pressure on his foot again. He didn't feel any more pain in his leg, but his head and both wrists were aching like nothing else. He still felt incredibly dizzy, but he wasn't sure if he should ask Dark for assistance or not. He didn't quite know where he stood with the man.

"I... I'll be fine-" Seán started, but Dark shook his head.

"I hate being lied to, Seán." Dark replied coolly. "You're badly hurt. You're covered in dry blood and I believe your wrist is sprained- it would not be wise to refuse my help."

"You're Darkiplier, aren't you?" Seán asked, hazarding a guess. The name had just come to him- he felt like beating himself over the head for not remembering it sooner. He'd collaborated with Mark in a video for just their most popular egos, and though it was almost a year ago by memory, there was still no excuse. Seán put it up to his recent near death experience. His mind was whirring with so many details that remembering Darkiplier had been the least of his worries until now.

Dark didn't hesitate. "That is one of the names I go by, yes. Though I'd prefer it if you called me Dark, it's a little less... absurd."

Seán hissed as his wrist twinged with pain, resting it in his side as he took Dark's outstretched arm. "I suppose that makes sense... you're not... are you...?"

"Mark is safe at home, don't worry," Dark soothed.

"But how can you be here without him? Isn't that... not possible? I mean, I guess I've only got experience with Anti, but he hates my body. He'd do anything to get rid of it." Seán said, buzzing with curiosity. He didn't even stop to think about how Dark knew what he was going to say. Asking questions lessened the pain, and though he knew he had to get his injuries looked at, any brief relief was welcome.

Dark sighed. "You, my friend, are almost as persistent as your counterparts. Though that is a given, I suppose. Let's get you to a hospital so you can get some medical help... er... you don't know your way around Liverpool, do you?"

"Not a bit," Seán replied. "Look, I'm not dying, we'll... if I can get home, I can sort myself out."

Dark laughed mirthlessly. "Nonsense. I'll accompany you, for your own health. I feel as though I'm indebted to you, for the baggage today's events must have given you."

"If... if you insist," Seán sighed, admitting defeat and walking outside with Dark steadying him. "You... you called me your friend. I thought, given Anti, you'd..."

"I don't hate you," Dark spoke, as if reading Seán's mind. "I don't hate him, either. One day, I hope he'll be able to see that for himself..."

They were silent as they left, Seán pulling his hood down to obscure his face in case anyone recognised him while Dark looked warily up at the light. He tried to make his skin more vibrant, but it barely had an effect. Luckily, in the sun, the grey tinge was hard to make out.

They shuffled off, checking Seán's phone for the next train back to Brighton. It was going to be a long afternoon.  
  



	19. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *UPDATED 29/12/18*

******~Void~**

"THE BODY'S MOVED!"

" _On it's own?!_ "

"No, of course not! Unless it did, in vhich case I promise I had nothing to do vith it!"

"A likely story-"

"Calm down, calm down!" Wilford yelled, firing his gun several times into the air. The commotion instantly ceased as the egos all flinched at the harsh sound, looking at the pink haired man in fear. "What's going on? What did I miss?"

"The body's been moved," Chase uttered, looking sick. Bing patted his back reassuringly, but to no avail. Thankfully, the ego's stomach wasn't full and therefore could not be emptied. Chase swallowed his own spit instinctively instead, looking rather green.

"On it's own?" Ed Edgar asked incredulously. Nobody questioned how he had suddenly appeared. After all, the destruction of the manor had left nearly all of the egos in the same place, it was inevitable that they'd all find each other eventually.

"Ve haven't quite ruled zat out just yet," Schneeplestein stated, looking at the empty space where Phil had once laid.

"So we've got a zombie problem then?" Jackieboy Man asked, his arms crossed as he continued to sit.

Robbie made a noise of indignation, causing Jackieboy to wince.

"Sorry Robbie, it vas nothing personal," Schneeplestein apologised. Robbie simply rolled over and went back to sleep. The poor zombie ego barely had the energy to do much else, these days.

" _Homo necrosis_?" Wilford asked, stepping forward with glee. "Well it's your lucky day folks, good old Warfstache has  _plenty_ of experience with-"

"He isn't dead, you imbeciles," Marvin interjected. "He was in a coma. Remember?"

"Well, who's to say he didn't die in his sleep?" Wilford challenged.

"Because there'd be obvious traces of blood if there was any external wound or physical damage, plus, he was in perfect health when we went to sleep," Dr. Iplier interjected.

"Yeah, there'd be blood everywhere if he was dead," Yandereplier scoffed. "It's like you've never dealt with a corpse before,"

"Oh, and I suppose  _you_  know a lot about corpses," Wilford huffed indignantly.

"I have some experience," Yandereplier grinned, running his finger over his blade threateningly. "But it wasn't me. Phil didn't want my Senpai, so I wouldn't hurt him."

"We're not looking for a probable cause, because he  _isn't dead_ ," Dr. Iplier groaned loudly. "Google, you were the last one in charge, what happened?"

Google fixed him with an intense glare. "You are distracting me from my regulatory software update. So if you could take some of these, and then go away."

Google flipped them the bird with both of his hands as he closed his eyes, projecting a screen showing a status bar before him.

"Seven hours remaining... man, these get longer every time," Chase muttered in disbelief.

"Dude, I know right?" Bing agreed.

"Bing, can you access his memory or something?" Dr. Iplier asked. Bing shook his head violently.

"Dude, he's a savage when he's trying to update."

"Devour my metaphorical robot ass, Bing," Google uttered in monotone, not opening his eyes.

"Man... that's not right..." Marvin stated.

"Why are we worried, exactly?" Wilford asked. "You can't die here."

"Maybe  _we_ can't, but Phil can," Dr. Iplier explained. "We haven't observed human interaction with the void before, so there's no telling what he can and can't do here compared to the rest of us."

"I'm sure he is fine, Doc," Schneeplestein said, resting his hand on the doctor's shoulder reassuringly. "Even if he vas avake, vhere vould he go? He vouldn't leave vithout a proper farevell,"

Dr. Iplier sighed. "I suppose you're right, Henrik. He trusts us, wherever he is. He wouldn't have left without saying goodbye if he had any say in the matter."

"Do you think it's possible he got back to the Groundlands?" Septiplier asked.

"It hasn't been done before, but... that is still an option. Yes, it is possible. We... we just have to believe in him." Dr. Iplier muttered.

"Where's Dark?" Jackieboy Man asked.

"That's a fair point, he should be back by now. He's never been away for this long before..." Wilford mused, scratching his chin with the tip of his gun.

"You have any idea, Host?" Marvin asked.

The blindfolded man remained seated. "The Host reminds the egos that his knowledge, while extensive, is contained to the current dimension he inhabits and so it is impossible to see where Darkiplier is at this point in time. The Host is inclined to apologise for this inability to answer your question."

"Shit... It's alright Host, it's not your fault." Marvin said. "Thank you anyway."

"Wow, that's the nicest thing you've said all year," Jackieboy Man chuckled. Marvin glared at him, while Yandereplier held his knife up as a warning. The superhero decided wisely to remain silent.

Septiplier ran two sets of fingers through his hair, while his other hands rubbed together in thought. "So Dark isn't back yet... great. Do you think we should try to build a house or... something? What if he's gone for a while?"

"None of us are as powerful as him," Bing sighed. "I can make a room, at best."

"Barely anybody even knows my name," Ed Edgar huffed. "What can I do in this situation?"

"You can bunk with me, bud," King of the Squirrels said. "I can take a few in my room."

"I'll stay with Henrik," Dr. Iplier said. "But... how will this all work out? If any of us fall asleep, it will all be gone."

"Ve'll cross zat bridge vhen ve come to it," Schneeplestein urged. "For now, ve just need a safe place to stay. Who knows? Maybe Dark vill be back before ve know it."

Neither of the egos spoke, but they all knew that wouldn't be the case. For now, though, all they could do was sit and wait. Chase, Septiplier and the doctors set to work thinking of a suburban home to spend their time in, while the rest of the egos talked amongst themselves. It was unlike Dark to be away for so long. They'd grown so dependent on him for support and protection that having him leave made them feel so weak and vulnerable.

They could only hope that Dark would return to them soon.

**~Groundlands~**

"You live alone?" Dark asked as he helped Seán through the front door. The trip to the local hospital had been very awkward, to say the least. First, they'd asked if Dark was Seán's lover, to which both had blushed while they denied it, making it all the more suspicious. Some part of Seán cursed as his mind flew to Septiplier, though the ship had nothing to do with Dark. Dark had gritted his teeth at the claim, and had said nothing, leaving Seán to explain.

Seán didn't question the ego as to why. 

The doctor had then asked for the details of the accident, and the two quickly realised there was nothing either could say for it. Neither had been present at the time, so Seán had to quickly tell them that he didn't remember much of it. He didn't want to sound like he belonged in a mental hospital, but there was no way he could say he blacked out for days and resurface with multiple wounds in a different city without several alarms going off for the doctor.

The doctor had then asked if Seán was on any medication or if he had experienced things like this before. Seán knew he wasn't crazy. He denied having past hallucinations, simply because he knew what the problem was and didn't want it misconstrued in any way by someone who didn't understand. Dark had remained quiet. Seán had a suspicion the doctors believed he was the culprit, despite his claims against the notion.

Eventually, Seán had lost his patience. He asked the doctor to treat his wrist and direct him to the bathroom so that he could wash away the blood from his body. Lord knows he'd had enough of people staring at him today. He'd gotten his cuts bandaged and his wrist splinted and put in a sling, and had left without another word about his mental stability.

He had to wonder if it was because he didn't want to question it himself.

When he arrived home, he found the door unlocked and all of the windows still open. He'd groaned heavily, walking into the cold kitchen and quickly checking that nothing was out of place. The least Anti could do after possessing him was to lock his damn door, but  _no._ The ego clearly had better things to do with his miserable life.

"No," Seán replied a little shortly. He shut the windows and locked the door, shivering despite it being one of the warmer nights of the month.

"Are you cold?" Dark asked.

Seán sighed. "Yes... it's nothing, I just need to rest."

"Understandable," Dark agreed, pulling the bloodied kitchen knife from the folds of his tuxedo. "What would you like me to do with this?"

Seán almost gagged, but caught himself in time. He was close to the sink in any case, so he wasn't all too worried, but he didn't know if he'd be able to use that knife again after he knew where it had been.

_That can't be hygienic, anyway..._

"Just... just throw it away, I'll buy a new set later," he muttered queasily. "Fookin Anti... Pulling this shit, leaving my house..."

He plugged his phone in to charge, having run the battery almost flat. Dark noticed a trail of dried blood down the hall, leading up to the sink. Seán hadn't yet seen it, and was now pacing as he attempted to remember what he'd needed to do before this entire incident.

Dark made his way over to the sink, brushing away at some crusty blood that had been dripping down the counter top. On the floor, beneath the table was a large blood spatter and a reasonably sized dent in the tile. Dark hastily averted his eyes, knowing that Seán wouldn't want to see this in his current state.

"I have reason to believe you've got a mild concussion," the demon said. Seán looked at him warily.

"Really? I thought it was just a headache... urgh, I've got so many things left to do, people to call, videos, and-"

"You need to relax," Dark said, Seán's frantic scuttling only making him feel more tense. "If you and Anti have anything in common it's that you both never give up on neglecting yourselves. Sleep, Seán. Please."

Seán looked at him warily. "What about you? I... I don't know why you're here, but... shit, I'm sorry. Do you need anything? I haven't had guests in a long time, I-"

"I'm fine," Dark insisted. "I'm worried for you, Seán. You seem... scattered."

"I'm not crazy," Seán muttered, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm not..."

Dark had a sudden flashback to a similar day very far in his past. 

_"What's wrong with him?"_

_"He hurt Jack!"_

_"He vouldn't... vould he?"_

_"What's going on here?" Dark had asked, smoothing his suit as the three Septiceye egos turned sharply to look at him. All of their faces were shocked, their eyes wide with terror. Something had definitely gone wrong for them to be so shaken._

_"Anti's gone mad!" Jackieboy Man exclaimed._

_"Mad?" Dark asked. "How so?"_

_"He was gone for a week," Marvin said, his hands visibly shaking. "His house appeared again today, and he's just sitting creepily in the corner mumbling to himself..."_

_"He has been hurting himself again, Dark," Schneeplestein said sadly. "Zere vas blood all over ze valls... writing..."_

_Dark shook his head, gripping his cane as his worry grew. "Why didn't you alert me sooner?"_

_"We know you're busy," Jackieboy Man said, arms crossed defiantly. "We didn't think it was that important."_

_"What he means," Marvin interjected, glaring at Jackieboy. "Is that Anti always does this. He just wants attention."_

_"Zat is not true," Schneeplestein started. "Mental health is nothing to scoff at, it is clear zat Anti is experiencing things zat are out of his control-"_

_"He's a fookin psychopath!" Jackieboy Man cried indignantly. Dark held up his hand, and the egos reluctantly quieted themselves._

_"He is still at home?" Dark questioned._

_"Yes, that's where I saw him last," Marvin sighed. Dark sighed as he glared at them all once more._

_"The next time someone is harming themself, you are to alert me at once. **I. Don't. Care. If. I'm. Busy.**  Understood?"_

_As soon as he had their word, Dark rushed off to the ego's home. He'd once been quite close to Anti, but as Mark's fanbase grew he found himself with many more responsibilities than he'd used to, being unable to spend as much time with any of his friends as he'd wish. Of course, the others had been accepting and understanding, but Dark knew that Anti had nobody else but him._

_He entered the building without hesitation, seeing the furniture all gone as well as the interior walls. It was an empty husk, a large box with red painted walls and a blood-spattered concrete floor. Anti was hugging his knees in the corner, rocking back and forth with his knife in his hand, blood dribbling from his neck._

_The word 'Crazy' was written multiple times on the walls in what appeared to be blood, with several finger and hand prints smeared beside them. There were other words, other phrases, but Dark didn't stop to read them all. His concern outweighed his need for rationality._

_Dark ran over to him, kneeling. He didn't expect Anti to grab his throat tightly, knocking him several feet backwards with a swift kick to the stomach. Dark groaned as he crawled to his feet, facing the ego's steely glare._

_"Where w̵̧͝e͡r̵e̡͡ you?!" Anti cried. Dark was astonished to see a large cut over the ego's throat, bleeding out all over his clothes. "You're never here! I... I tried to stop, but I... I can't ḑ̡o̵͞ ͏t҉͟h̛i͜s͡ al͠o̢̨ne͞!"_

_Dark was taken aback. He'd never seen Anti act this way before- it was like his mind was broken, fractured, torn apart into pieces that couldn't be recovered. He was hesitant to approach, and Anti could see it._

_The ego sobbed loudly into his knees, running his fingers through his brown hair. "What's wrong with me, D͟͡҉ar͏̷͘ķ̨? Why... why am I so w͜͞e̡͠a̶̛͜k, I..."_

_Dark said nothing. He wasn't quite sure of how to respond to someone when they were in a hysterical state like this. He'd let William walk away believing that death was all some kind of gruesome joke when he'd been in a very similar situation, but knowing how he turned out, Dark just couldn't stay quiet forever._

_"You're scar҉ȩd of me..." Anti said, lips trembling as he shakily got to his feet. "You're... you're looking at me like I'm c̵͜r̶̷͜a͘͠z̧͟y͘̕. I-I'm no͘t̷ craz҉y. I would never... I could never... Dark, please! Tell me I'm n̸̡͢͢o̷̷t͘͏͘ ҉̡͝c̕͏r̸̶̸̨a̧̕͢z̴͜y̛͝͏!"_

_It absolutely broke Dark to see him this way. Shuddering, breathing heavily, slits across his wrists and his cheeks, his once pale body now marred in ugly red. The fearful look in his eyes reminded Dark of a man he'd once loved, a man who lived on as a damaged soul._

_He looked down in pain, the memories only bringing guilt and anguish to his mind._

_Anti laughed humourlessly. "You really a͡r̫̱̥̼͟e̺͔͔̞ afraid of me... I guess I really don't mean a̵ny̧̛t̵̕hi̸͢ņg͡ to you. They were right... They're rig̸h͏t a̢b͝ou̕t̡ ͟e̕ve͠r͢y̕th̷i͟n̡g..."_

_"They?" Dark asked, trying to step forward. "Anti, who-"_

_"S̷̴͇̤̼t̶̳͍̝̜͔a͏̲̹͉̤̙̩̯̞͝y̛̰̙͈̲̤̹̝͙̕ ̪̦͈͘ͅa͙̗͙̤̗̘w͜҉̢̯͓͖̹̙̥̗ͅa̙͕̳̱̝̺̯͖y̠̬̙̲͟ ҉̖̗͔̱̼̭͇f̸̻̘̗̮̲̦ͅr̲͖̭͙͇̙̼̬ọ̧͎̕m͙̩͙͍ ̸̡̧̥̲̬̪̗͔m̡͓̣e̸̡̛̲̝!" Anti growled , retreating until his back reached the wall._

_Dark could see the roots of his hair beginning to turn a bright, septic green that matched his eyes. Still, Dark trudged forward. Anti was clearly in need of help, help that Dark may or may not be able to provide, but he wouldn't let yet another friend fall victim to madness._

_He took a step too close._

_"I said S҉͝T̶̕͟͠A̧͝Y̵̸̢̢͞ ̡͢͜͜A͟͝W҉̶̛͞͏A̸̶̧͜Y̴̵!" Anti screamed, slashing his knife through the air. Dark hissed in pain as he looked down, seeing a deep gash in his suit, blood blossoming on his clothes from the fresh wound in his chest. He could have sworn he saw a glimmer of remorse in Anti's eye, but when he looked again the ego only scowled._

_"Stay the fook away... or I'll show you ho̴w͡ c̡҉r̶a̛z̷͠y ̢I͝͏ ͘͟c̕a̷͢n ̷̶b͘͏̵e͏̸..." Anti muttered. He resumed his place sitting in the corner and didn't say another word._

"Dark?" Seán asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. The demon was shaken abruptly from his vision, and to Seán he found himself grateful. He didn't know how many times he had relived that horrible memory, but the pain didn't numb at all with time.

"I apologise," Dark sighed. "I... I've been troubled by some internal conflict, that's all."

"Shit, man, I've just been focused on me... you must have been out here for a reason."

Dark nodded.

"It..." Seán sighed. "It was Anti, wasn't it? You were here to kill him. That's why you almost stabbed me earlier."

"I apologise," Dark said again. Seán shook his head.

"You need to stop apologising, not everything's your fault."

Dark bit his lip as he conjured his cane, gripping it tightly in hope that it would relieve some of his stress. "That, Seán, is where you'll find you are wrong. In this situation, there are very few things that are not my fault. Are you sure you're alright?"

Seán nodded, wiping what he thought was the last of the blood from his hands at his sink. "I'll be fine."

"I... I'm sorry, but I have urgent matters to attend to." Dark said. "I must take my leave. May I inquire as to the whereabouts of your lavatory?"

Seán stared at him incredulously. "Dude, just how old  _are_  you?"

"Older than I'd like to admit, I'm afraid."

"Right, right... bathroom's down the hall, second door to your left."

Dark strode past, evading the droplets of blood on his way. He needed to return to the void, or... words couldn't describe what would happen. The egos would tear each other apart. The demons would lose control, the very order of the place would fall into ruin. Right now the Ipliers and Septiceyes were probably at civil war without him there to stop it. Let alone the threat of Anti...

Dark looked up to the large mirror that hung over Seán's vanity. Within, he could see Damien and Celine, but they were no longer looking at him sadly. There was fire in their eyes as they turned harshly from each other to face him, a loud shattering sound echoing through the house as Dark closed his eyes in a brief but striking flash of pain.

Seán rushed in moments later, looking at the scene with wide eyes.

"Dude... what the fook happened to the mirror?"

Dark looked down at his hands, feeling them trembling as he began to panic.

"I... I can't go back... the mirror... they...Seán, I need a drink."

"A what?" Seán asked incredulously. "At a time like this?"

"I promise, I'll explain," Dark muttered. "But I'm going to have to stay here for a while, and I'd like to forget what I saw before trying again..."

Seán blinked a few times, taking in the scene. The mirror was shattered, shards in the sink, on the floor, some embedded in the ego's hands but he didn't seem bothered at all. What did he mean, 'stay here for a while'?

"Of course," Seán sighed, leaving the room. As if today could get any more insane...

**~Void~**

"Daniel? Daniel!"

The fire ego had just materialised beside the modern house he'd designed with his demon friend long ago. It looked as clean as when he'd first built it, and looking inside, he couldn't see any of the mess they'd had before this whole possession debacle. The lounge was orderly and the sofa had no crease, the bathroom was free of the endless amounts of hair gel that Daniel kept in there, and the television didn't have dirty clothes thrown onto it.

"Daniel, are you in there?!" Blaze called, running up the stairs to his bedroom. Opening it, he found that his black and grey sheets were clean and his bed was made, his mirror free of the stickers that had once been placed on it. He shook his head, opening the door to Daniel's contrastingly vibrant room. He found the demon on his orange bedcovers, the lights dimmed so that Blaze could barely see until he turned on his own fiery aura.

There, he saw Daniel in his full glory. Hand cusped around a wound that was producing blood from his stomach, covered in mild burns, his soft grey skin shining with orange highlights in Blaze's flames.

He smiled in happiness as Blaze fully entered the room, climbing onto the bed to look at the wound.

 **"You made it out..."**  Daniel sighed in relief.

"Of course I made it out," Blaze replied, taking Daniel's shirt off so he could get a proper look at the stab wound. "I'm me. I always get out of sticky situations."

Daniel snorted, recalling all the times he'd tried to make Blaze do chores, to which the ego refused. Eventually, Daniel found himself doing them, but he really didn't mind in the end.

**"That you do..."**

"Does it hurt?" Blaze asked, observing the blood continuously pouring from the open muscle.

 **"No,"** Daniel said.  **"But it _is_  ruining my sheets."**

Blaze snorted, and placed his hand over the wound, feeling Daniel's skin beneath his fingertips. There was a considerably sized elephant in the room that both egos felt they had to acknowledge, but neither really knew how to break the topic first.

Blaze's hand traced the outline of the wound, and before his eyes it faded. Daniel's eyes widened in surprise and Blaze looked down at himself, wondering why he'd never known he could heal other people.

_Probably because I never see other people..._

**"That's... new."**  Daniel said in mild amazement.  **"Did you know you could do that?"**

"No," Blaze murmured in confirmation. "This is very new to me."

 **"Can you do my arm?"**  Daniel asked, showing Blaze the white burn marks that littered his once smooth skin. Blaze ran his fingers over it, happy to oblige, watching with a strange satisfaction as the marks melted away beneath his touch. He moved on to the other arm after that, then his fingers trailed to some stray marks on Daniel's neck.

Blaze swallowed as he retraced his movements across the demon's skin. When he'd kissed him, earlier, it was like a sense of self realisation. All Blaze had ever wanted was to finally possess Phil and show Daniel that he was just as capable as every other ego. He'd only ever wanted to impress Daniel. Why hadn't he seen that all he really wanted had been right in front of him all along?

"Goddamn, I'm stupid," Blaze muttered to himself.

Daniel raised an eyebrow questioningly.  **"How so?"**

Blaze remained silent. He didn't know if it was appropriate to confess his feelings now. He couldn't help but recall the words they'd shared back in the dressing room, wondering if he was overthinking things. Then again, Daniel  _had_  kissed him first.

 **"I see,"**  Daniel mused.  **"You're so stupid you can't even come up with a reason to think you're stupid,"**

"Oh, I've got some reasons," Blaze sighed to himself.

 **"The only reason you could possibly be stupid is that you haven't healed my face yet,"**  Daniel pointed out.

Blaze looked at those fingerprint shaped burns that marred Daniel's cheeks, fitting his hand perfectly to them like a jigsaw puzzle. His forehead was white from when they'd touched, so Blaze mimicked his earlier position, resting their heads together as the skin healed over. Daniel closed his eyes and Blaze realised their close proximity, wondering if he should close his own eyes as well.

 **"I take it back,"**  Daniel chuckled, opening his eyes and rolling them over so that he was straddling Blaze's waist.  **"You really are daft."**

Before Blaze could respond, Daniel pressed their lips together, pinning the fire ego to the bed, though Blaze definitely wasn't struggling against him. He hadn't felt just how amazing having the cool skin pressed against his was when he'd kissed Daniel earlier. Dan's body had been cold, but not as refreshing as this.

Conversely, Daniel was feeling the same. He felt warmed from within when his lips touched Blaze's, a feeling he'd never experienced before spending time with the fire ego. Daniel had only ever been cold and calculated in his movements, but when Blaze was here, he could really see himself. Literally and metaphorically. He could see the person he was becoming when he spent time with Blaze, and he loved it. He never wanted to lose track of himself again.

After a long few moments, they slowly broke apart. Blaze's flames were burning bright yellow as he smiled goofily up at Daniel, his cheeks bright with a blush. "I... I didn't know if I should..."

 **"Well now you know,"**  Daniel chuckled, kissing him again, then again, watching fondly as Blaze's cheeks grew hotter and hotter with each touch.  **"Damn it Blaze, I love you. I always have... I'm sorry it took me this long to tell you."**

"I'm sorry it took me possessing somebody else to realise that I love you too," Blaze breathed, and the two chuckled as they realised just how cliche and horrible their relationship really was.

 **"We're such a meme,"**  Daniel sighed to himself, removing Blaze's shirt and tossing it aside. Looks like the first pile of dirty laundry had made itself at home...

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Blaze laughed.

If someone were to walk by, they would see the lights of the house shine an intense blue. Thankfully, even  _if_ someone were to walk past, this colour fluctuation wouldn't signify anything to them. But to the egos of the house, it was the start of a promising future together.

A future that they now realised was better spent in the void, where no harm could come to them ever again.

_Or so they thought..._

**~Groundlands~**

"So tell me, Dan," Phil started the morning after their wild adventures had come to a close. The two nights that Phil had actually got to experience their show had been great, and he noticed a few people when they were doing meet and greets asking him if he was okay recently. He'd smiled and told them he'd just been a little under the weather, to which Dan had hidden a sarcastic smirk. Phil really cared about their fans, and was amazed to think that they would even notice if someone else was in his body.

"What do you think about making Phan real?"

Dan spit out his tea, choking as he was shocked and surprised by his best friend's words. And so soon after Dan's traumatic experience yesterday? Oh no, Dan was quite happy to forget that the objectification of their relationship was even a thing.

Phil raised an eyebrow. "I think you took that the wrong way."

"Well bloody hell, Phil, what way was I meant to take it?" Dan demanded, wiping away the spilled liquid from his jeans.

"I'm a little disturbed that you dislike the idea of us being in a relationship this much," Phil teased.

"Oh, shut up," Dan scoffed. "If you'd been through what I have, you'd be uncomfortable as well."

"Dark told me that Daniel loved me once," Phil said, deciding to bring this out into the open. "I was thinking... that's probably why you thought you liked me back then. Because of him. He wanted you to like me too, so we'd get together."

"Would you have dated me if I'd gone along with it?" Dan asked, before sighing as he realised just what that sounded like. "I promise, I'm not desperate."

Phil chuckled. "I'd do almost anything for you, Danny boy. Maybe even date you. But I don't think we'd have lasted until now if we did. I just don't... think that way about you. You know?"

"Trust me," Dan sighed. "I know. After yesterday, I don't think I can think of you like that either."

"Should I be flattered or disheartened?" Phil asked, smirking.

"Both," Dan groaned. "We're getting off topic. Why do you want to make Phan real- what do you even mean by that?"

"Well, while I was in the void, I met a fusion-"

"A fusion?" Dan asked. "Like what, Garnet?"

"Yeah, exactly," Phil grinned. "Except it was Mark and Jack instead of Ruby and Sapphire. Also, he seemed to be just one being... I don't think he could split apart even if he wanted to. Anyway, he... um... he's very lonely, so I was thinking... maybe we could give him a friend, you know?"

Dan stared at him, wondering just what to make of this. "The physical embodiment of Mark and Jack's ship is a fusion... and he's lonely, so you want us to pretend that Phan's real so he can have a friend? I mean... the fans will take that and run, and you know they will."

Phil sighed. "Yes, I know, but... he's been so close to killing himself, Dan, I just don't want him to hurt anymore..." he whispered.

Dan looked up to see Phil actually crying. He quickly got to his feet, hugging the man and murmuring reassurance.

"Jesus... you think that personifying Phan will help?" Dan asked, his stomach turning as he realised the implications of what he could be about to do.

"I'm positive. We don't have to pretend we're dating or anything, we don't have to tell them about the egos. We just... we need to acknowledge that the ship is there. That it exists, and that we're okay with it."

Dan laughed nervously to himself. "We're... we're actually going to do this, aren't we?"

"It's been a long time coming," Phil smiled. "I'll get the camera."

**~Void~**

He opened his eyes and blinked. All four of them.

 _Is that right_? He asked himself. Somehow, he didn't think that having four eyes was a trait possessed by humans. But then, he wasn't sure exactly what he was. He hadn't come with that knowledge in his seemingly extensive mind.

One hand was raised to his face, and another to his stomach. He felt two more meet and clasp together, gasping in realisation.

"I'm... a fusion?" He asked. His voice was something that he could only describe as Northern, but the ends of his words had a posh lilt that he couldn't quite place. No matter. A fusion, a fusion... what would a fusion call themself?

"I'm not Dan... I'm not Phil..." he muttered, walking around in circles. He was in a black expanse, but he wasn't sure exactly what else his surroundings were meant to reflect. He wasn't sure where he was- all he knew was that he had come into being loved and accepted, and with the memories of two British men he assumed were his components.

"You're new here," came a voice. The fusion looked around, seeing someone else for the first time. He was short, pale with green hair and a slit throat that somehow wasn't bleeding. He had two arms and two glowing, green eyes.

Something inside the fusion sunk. Perhaps he really  _was_ abnormal.

"Yes, I've just arrived," the fusion sighed.

The man chuckled as he stepped forward, examining the fusion's multiple arms and height with wonder.

"You look like someone I know," he laughed. "He has four arms and four eyes as well. Everyone thinks he's a freak."

The fusion was taken aback. "I... I don't understand. What's wrong with people like me?"

"If you don't look human, most humans won't give you the time of day. It's sad but true," the man said, picking at his fingernails.

The fusion struggled to deal with this new information. "But I... I thought I was loved."

"Of course you feel lov̢ed," the man spat. "They all do, until they get thrown away like the sack of trash they are. I suppose I'm lucky I was never admired. That way I never had to deal with the hea̧rtbr̸ęa͢k͜..." the man trailed off, laughing to himself.

_Was that normal?_

The fusion found himself not knowing what to believe anymore.

The fusion sat cross legged, fingers running through his hair. "I don't know what to do... who are you? What is this place?"

"I'm Anti," the man introduced. "This is the void. A pit of eternal darkness where we all waste away waiting for people to love us for who we are. But nobody will ev̶e͘r͢ love us for who w̵͘e͟͡ ̕a͘r̶͢͝e̕͠! Look at you! You're a tall four armed m̶̸o̕n̢͡s͟t͘͠er̛, and the second you set foot in their house you'll be t͘or̵n͢ ̡t͘o shr͘ed̡s͢! And me, how could I forget? Tossed aside and forgotten because my creator  _n҉̕͏e̴v͏̕er͞͡ ̵w̷̷̷a̢͜͜n̢ţe̸͡͝d͏ ̛m̷̨̨e̛͞_. Did your creators want you?"

The fusion tried to remember his conception. He could see the black haired man, Phil,  _crying_ , the other, Dan, consoling him. They  _regretfully_ agreed to bring him into the world. He couldn't hear their words, but the images spoke louder than any phrase. He felt all four of his eyes water, brushing his tears aside.

Everything he thought he'd known was false. A lie. Nobody loved him, not even his creators. He clenched his fists in newfound frustration as Anti smirked.

"Yes, feel it. The anger, the betrayal! We're very similar, you and I. Do you have a name?"

The fusion looked down at himself. He was a mixture of Dan and Phil, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be anymore.

"I'm Phan Howlter," he decided. "But you can call me... Halter."

"Well, Halter," Anti cackled. "Come to my humble abode and I'll tell you everything you need to know about being a t͞y̴pi̢cal̸ ͘eg͘o..."  
  
  
  


       

**This is Halter^^**


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